


Inkling Captivation

by SplatSplat (SplatSplatB)



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16034273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SplatSplatB/pseuds/SplatSplat
Summary: Although Marie and Agent 4's misadventures pushed them to where they are, the two clasp onto each other and hope for the best. Walking, breathing, and talking above their reality, that is to fight for a city that loves them. I am not taking credit to any of these created characters, or their environments. Agent 4 x Marie





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Keep Your Eyes On Me

_As a note, this is a sequel to "Inkling Fraternization," however, I am carefully writing this to ensure that the fan fiction does not need to be read for this one to be enjoyed. Thank you for taking notice, enjoy..._

* * *

"Keep going," a soft and approachable voice whispered to herself.

Another figure of darker complexions sits beside her and takes a peak at the monitor that the Inkling is staring at. The monitor vividly glowed of green and pink, causing the dark Octoling to blink a few times to adjust her eyes.

"He better win this one, he's that close," the Inkling whispered, responding to the peaking of the teal-tipped Octoling.

"He's going to pull through," the tall and crazily-tentacled Octoling replied.

The grey tentacled Inkling caressed her own arm and continued to watch meticulously a green ponytail-bearing player. Her eyes tracked the smooth movement as the Inkling morphed and transformed in between his humanoid and squid form. She looked down as she traced her dark near-black sweater from Toni Kensa. The sweater echoed of the Inkling on the screen, which appeared covered and soaked in pink ink. Her sitting position gave her an opportunity swing her legs to distract some nerve in her mind from telling the rest of her mind to panic. Each leg ended with a pair of Marinated Slip-Ons, which was gifted to her by the Octoling that she sat beside.

"Marie," a short light and bubbly Inkling called from across the small table, causing the wobbling from the grey-tentacled Inkling to stop, "fans, look at the square."

Marie postured herself the way she was more familiar to, leaning her left elbow on the chair's armrest and resting her head with that same arm. Her slight laziness struck through her as she waved, not being able to raise her arm all the way up. She crossed her legs and sat more comfortably, offering herself a more relaxing posture. Marie smiled, however, her weak-almost smug-smile was still her signature face.

"Marina," the same short crowned Inkling called as she pointed to her right towards the glass.

"Oh right," Marina responded as she took her concentration away from her laptop and looked to the left to wave at the fans.

Marie continued to wave at the mix of Octolings and Inklings gathering across the glass to see their idols in person. She remembered visiting the studio she is currently sitting and wondering how she taught Pearl to be come off less rude. Marie took a quick glance at Pearl and saw that her round ergonomic seat was actually turned towards the fans. Pearl's waves were actual waves, instead of her half-invested pose. The three's public approval most likely shot up the roof since her visit, as Marina would always text moments of fans taking photos with Marina and Pearl in the background while they posed. Marina was always the more friendly and approachable one when compared to Pearl, memories of Pearl always being annoyed of fans looking through the glass still lingered. Marie remembered the times that Pearl would complain about the public open studio, which she sometimes still express her gripes about. However, it seems like the situation has changed, with Pearl becoming more friendly, while Marina would always be too distracted about the music and her equalization levels.

The fans left, happy and joyful, still talking about how cool the instance was. As the three returned to their areas of concentration, Pearl started a conversation with the other two.

"We must look pretty chill right now," Pearl commented, looking at Marina and Marie.

Marie and Marina's heads shot up at Pearl, who leaned forward, leaning her chin on both of her hands as the arms' elbows rest on the table. The two looked at each other and saw the situation of the entire room. Marie was looking at her laptop watching a Rainmaker game, Marina was on her music creation kit, adjusting her highs and lows, while Pearl just sat around, checking out the map rotation through her squidphone.

"I mean," Marie started as she pulled her sweater, causing it to become slightly baggy, "yeah, I can see that."

Marina nodded as she looked at Marie's screen, which she figured was obviously visible to the public. Pearl scratched her head and smiled as the two inspected every single detail and figured if that detail would be considered chill.

"Marie being chill always makes sense, but Marina's just sitting around adjusting levels instead of writing something new or planning out a splatfest," Pearl added, "not saying it's a bad thing of course! I'm just sayin' you know."

Marie smiled as Pearl's explosive personality did not destroy any opinions or happiness.

"Is that a bad thing," Marie asked, "well, for me at least..."

Pearl smirked and shrugged, "Depends, are you an agent or a pop-star right now?"

Marie shook her head and chuckled, crossing her arms together, "Marie. I'm Marie."

"Thanks for the obscure answer there," Pearl knocked herself back, leaning on her bean-like seat, "good attempt at being philosophical."

Marie leaned back on her tall seat and rested to continue to watch the screen. With Marina sticking her eyes back onto her laptop, and Pearl checking out the map cycle, Marie decided to return her line of sight to the screen. Her eyes saw the green Inkling freaking and exploding, celebrating every millisecond, however, her mind did not process that information. Pearl heard the quiet sounds ringing through the screen's speakers, and leaned to the right to come closer to Marie.

"So um...Marie," Marina whispered, seeing Marie staring at the screen with almost no happiness, "you do see what's going on right?"

"Yeah I see what's on this thing," Marie responded as she sighed, "yeah, Agent Four just won his game and holy carp! He won his game..."

Marie quickly stood up and rushed out the open studio. She caught the eyes of Pearl and Marina, who kept track of her till she disappeared behind the studio door. Pearl looked at Marina with curious eyes, which caused Marina to giggle slightly and begin to answer Pearl's questioning.

"Marie just realized that Agent Four became Rank X," Marina answered smiling at Pearl's adorable curious face.

Pearl stomped up, "Wait huh!? Agent Four is X now!"

Marina laughed, seeing Pearl whipping her neck to the left to face the door. She kicks the door down and sprints down the rest of the studio to reach the alley behind the building. Marina's bubbly and bright expression swiftly turned straight as she saw the door slowly let go of its grasp from the frame and fall down. Pearl sprinted down the hall way, turned to the right, then another right to enter Inkopolis Square. Her eyes tracked Marie jogging down the square and quickly stopping at the end of the Battle Lobby. Marie stood patiently as the glass walls of the outdoor entrance of the Lobby shaded her from the blistering sun. She looked her shoulders to see passing Inklings and Octolings catching a glance of her, smiling and pointing at her. Marie smiled knowing that the looks she is receiving is that of appreciation and positivity. Her mind kicks back memories of being told that Agent Eight unlocked her consciousness by listening to Calamari Inkantation.

"Missed me," Agent Four called, causing Marie to turn back forward.

Marie smiled as the players passed her, causing her vision to only focus on Agent Four's figure. His smile reverberated in her mind as Agent Four slowly approached with his Kensa Splat Dualies hanging from his hip. Marie walked forward, and with only a few seconds passing, they were in each other's arms.

"Yes, yes I did Four," Marie answered as she rested her chin on Agent Four's shoulder.

Agent Four wrapped tighter, not giving a care to any pair of eyes that may fall on them. He slowly pushed Marie to create distance between them, as Four showed his bright and bottled celebration.

"Marie," Agent Four whispered before exploding, "I'm finally X!"

Marie responded with shaking, causing Agent Four to shake with her. The two celebrated by bringing each other back into each other's grasps. Pearl was immediately behind the two, but decided to leave them be, seeing Marina looking at her with a straight face through the glass. Marie and Agent Four caressed wherever their hands landed, causing a comfort after the celebration. She remembered the old days of Marie keeping an eye on Agent Four as he climbed up the ladder. Marie was there for the hardest times, seeing him fall three times in a row. However, she was also there for the best times, seeing him finally reach S+ and seeing his bright face. Agent Four, to everyone, deserved to be in X, his determination and pure skill made him an adversary to anyone and everyone who comes against his aggressive and pushing play style. He became more dangerous, when he mastered both the Dualie Squelchers, and the Kensa Splat Dualies, complementing his aggressive and extending-heavy style. Coupled with the fact that he essentially mastered rolls and their properties, gave him an edge in any situation that allowed mobility to reign supreme, which was almost all, if not all, engagements.

"So, did you enjoy watching me there Two," Agent Four asked as the two pulled apart to finally talk to each other.

Marie showed her weak, half-smile, which this time showed embarrassment, "Yeah..."

Agent Four knocked his head down and shook his head, "Why are you so afraid of telling me that? You've been keeping tabs of every game I've had for almost a year."

"I know, but still," Marie responded as she shrugged.

"Hey um...Marie...Four," Pearl desperately called, being drowned out by the surrounding population, "you two done?"

Agent Four and Marie smirked at each other before Marie guided herself to face Pearl, placing herself beside him.

"Yeah we're done," Marie smiled as she interlaced her fingers with those of Four's.

"Still good seeing you two being lovy-dovy," Pearl giggled, "congrats Agent Four."

"Thank you Pearl," Agent Four nodded, surprised by Pearl's respect, "Oh, where's everyone else? Marina, Callie, Three, Eight?"

"Marina is over there at the studio," Pearl pointed to the glass wall of the studio, with Marina waving while she's on her laptop, "I do not know about Callie, Three and Eight though. You're going to have to talk to them if you want to find where they are..."

Pearl motioned her head to invite Agent Four and Marie to begin making their way to the studio. Both agents agreed and followed the crowned stubby inkling. The three began walking down the square, catching more than a few pair of eyes. Surprisingly however, they were not stopped for an autograph. Some were eager to ask, however, Agent Four seemed to be the reason fans were not running and tripping over themselves. Agent Four, being flanked by Pearl and Marina, looked more tired than usual, so it seemed as though that the fans were giving Agent Four respect. Moreover, Agent Four's powerful announcement of him becoming Rank X gave him a new elite status, so respect was to be expected.

"So," Agent Four started as they passed by a bright yellow food truck, "I do not know what I am going to do now..."

"What do you mean Four," Pearl responded.

Agent Four tightened and raised his shoulders as he straightened his mouth, "Well, I'm Rank X. I'm not bragging or anything, but what else am I supposed to do? Yeah be the best player, for what though?"

"You got a point there," Marie commented as she begins to realize the massive amounts of burnout Agent Four must've received from playing too much Ranked.

Marie's memories rushed back to instances when Agent Four would come home under their shared roof with Callie. Seeing Agent Four tired and exhausted, expressing having little to no motivation to come back the next day, only to do the opposite, always gave Marie concerns. It has been a while since Marie and Agent Four were called in to do a mission, their last mission was not even planned. That mission was that of Commander Tartar, the notorious green glob ambushed the entire New Squidbeak Splatoon in an empty train, causing a massive lock down on any Splatoon activities. The train they were ambushed on crashed, causing a massive investigation, luckily, no one was injured, except for the ones who were involved. Commander Tartar landed a mind-controlling mask on Agent Four, which Marie shot off, ending with Agent Four mentally damaged and unable to fight. To regain his ability to not go numb, Agent Four entered matches of Turf War and Ranked day in day out, slowly relying on these battles to pull himself back into his body and not to the time where he almost eliminated Marie. His consciousness still lingered that moment when he did not control his body, watching as the world unfolded around him. With Rank X finally achieved, there is no other driving factor into becoming better other than to distract himself. Otherwise, he has no reason to keep on playing, which in turn, will cause him to return back to memories of seeing his body running after Marie with the intent to hurt her.

"Marie," Pearl called as she snapped her fingers in front of her face, "you there?"

Marie shook her face, not knowing where they were. She looked around to find herself outside the studio, surrounded by the looming studio shadow and a chain-linked fence. In front of her was Marina holding open the door, Pearl still up close with her, and Agent Four inside the building staring at her, with a face that signalled that he was looking at someone adorable. Pearl side stepped to her left, letting Marie through, prompting Marie to walk in with not a single word muttered. Marina motioned her head to make Pearl move closer, to which Pearl did. She closed the door behind her, with Pearl moving only a breath away from Marina.

"Is something going on with Marie," Marina whispered.

Pearl shook her head in denial, "No, at least to my knowledge."

"Well I hope nothing's wrong," Marina responded.

"Haha, don't worry Reena," Pearl added, "it's the first time we've seen her like that, so it's probably a one time thing. We know what she looks like when she's upset, and she does not look like her mind was taken to another dimension."

"Good point," Marina worryingly responded before opening the door, letting Pearl inside the back room of the open studio.

"Congrats on the Splatfest win there Marina," Agent Four complimented Marina once the door closed behind her.

Marina and the rest grew confused as she squinted her eyes, "We haven't even announced the Splatfest yet there Four. Besides, the last one I lost..."

Agent Four chuckled before scratching his head, "No, no, I'm just predicting you're going to be winning this time. It's going to be a Marina win."

Pearl pouted as Marina clapped her hands together at Agent Four's comment. Agent Four settled himself on a seat just adjacent to the door of the glass-walled studio, the chair was that of comfortable fluffy material, suiting his exhausted state. Marie sat beside him, also sitting on a seat that echoed that of Agent Four's seat.

"I remember the last Splatfest I had," Marie smiled, "good thing I kicked Callie's butt, or else I wouldn't have seen the last of her nagging."

"Pearl always nags me every time she wins a Splatfest," Marina responded.

Pearl confidently crossed her arms and tilted her head up to show power, "Which by the way, is almost all the time."

"I mean, no one can deny that here," Agent Four laughed as he sits up to remove his backpack from his back.

The four giggled at the comment, as it was a mix of a happy joke and a hardcore fact. It has become a joke for participating players in Splatfest to pick Marina for the better opinion, and to pick Pearl to win. While Marina may be agreed on by many to have better points for her opinion, Pearl always won games and the other factors in a Splatfest.

"Yo, the Pearl Club always gets the better players," Pearl celebrated with pride.

Marina crossed her arms, "Yeah, but I still have more loyal fans..."

Pearl turned forty-five degrees to the left to face Marina, "Are you sure about that?"

"Swear to me that less than a third of the people who pick your opinion are just the ones who want to win Splatfests," Marina smirked, dropping the bomb in the room.

"Dang," Marie whispered to herself before leaning over to the left to catch Agent Four's attention, "Callie and I's Splatfests were not this intense!"

"Well Marina, you can't admit that some of your fans just suck at Turf," Pearl fired back.

In a blink of an eye, a war had ensued. Agent Four and Marie continued to watch as each side roasted and shot at each other, not holding anything back. The two began laughing as clever mixes of rhymes and well thought out roasts were flung at each side.

"Had you and Callie have this moment," Agent Four asked while resting on his right hand, with his right elbow rested on his chair's arm rest.

Marie shrugged, "We had moments. But this, this thing we have not had before. Like seriously..."

The topic shifted, as Agent Four wanted to catch up to Marie's day, "So what did you do all afternoon while I was gone?"

"Watching your game," Marie answered, timidly, not wanting to admit to a secondary objection, "yeah..that's it."

Agent Four looked at Marie and smiled, "Marie.."

"Fine," Marie responded, "I kind of ate like three orders of Shwaffles from Crusty Sean..."

"Knew it," Agent Four chuckled as he crossed his arms, "you haven't eaten from that place in weeks!"

"So you're going to cut me some slack?" Marie asked sincerely.

Agent Four shook his head, "There's no slack to cut. Besides, you've been on my Ranked games for almost a month now. So if anything I should be apologizing to you for missing out on hours together."

Marie smiled, "There's no problem Four. Thanks for caring though."

"Isn't it the boyfriend's job to care?" Agent Four jokingly asked.

"That's both of our jobs there, Four," Marie responded as she shook her head with a bright smile.

Agent Four felt the need to flirt a little, as he missed a few hours with Marie, "You're adorable, you know."

"I know," Marie brightly smiled as she grew pink, "I've been told more than a few times."

"Well, I hope you haven't been locking eyes with anyone else other than me while I was gone," Agent Four whispered as their eyes met.

Marie giggled, "No, no. I only look at yours Four. You're too good to pass by and let go."

"Good to hear, seeing that I'm just, at most, a random Inkling who plays really good Ranked," Agent Four joked, "and you're a pop-star who's envied by every other Inkling in existence."

Marie knocked her head down a little and looked up to keep her eyes locked on Agent Four's, "I know you look at me differently, Four. I know you did not fall in love with me because I'm a pop-star."

"Yeah, if I did, that would've been weird," Agent Four nodded.

"Haha," Marie laughed as a memory is retrieved, "I still can't let go of the fact that you didn't recognize me back at the outpost."

"Yeah yeah I know," Agent Four chuckled.

"That makes no sense though, Four," Marie started again, "So what, you didn't know me right? So you just followed some random Inkling in a kimono through some grating?"

"I mean...yeah," Agent Four responded, "I don't remember having a reason to follow you."

"You're weird," Marie giggled, "I love it."

"Now that you have brought that up to me, I'm glad I was not squidnapped or something," Agent Four joked as he shook at the possibility.

"I don't think a lot of Inklings or Octolings want to kidnap someone random. Besides, you could probably defend yourself well." Marie reassured Agent Four.

Agent Four nodded, "Well I'm glad I didn't have to defend myself. I'm glad I had to fight to fight to retrieve back a loved pop-star that is hypnotized, and The Giant Zapfish who is essential to the powering of the entirety of Inkopolis!"

"I mean..." Marie responded, realizing that the situation that she placed Agent Four is more impactful than a simple squidnapping.

"So how about we head home," Agent Four suggested.

"That would be lovely," Marie responded as the two stood up at the same time, not catching Marina or Pearl's attention.

The two decided to not disturb Pearl and Marina's playful argument, defending their fans, so they sneakingly left the studio. Agent Four and Marie slowly opened the door, and quietly closed the door behind them. The two did not have a vehicle with them, so they decided to use Inkopolis' train system. As the two turned to the left at the end of the alley, avoiding Inkopolis Square and heading towards Inkopolis Plaza. Although the Plaza became deserted of Inkling culture, it is still a hub for business and services, which included a major train station. Weirdly enough, the station is an open air station, not an enclosed track surrounded by hard walls.

"It's here," Agent Four nudged Marie as he sees a grey train approaching their location.

He turned to the left to look straight forward, stretching as he went. His body was slightly sore from the hours of Ranked, however, his body had gotten used to the several hours of intense activity. Moreover, he had been playing Turf and Ranked for hours for years, starting back when Inkopolis Plaza was the Inkling hub.

"Can't wait to get home and sleep," Agent Four expressed as Marie tightened her grip on Agent Four's hand.

"Me too," Marie whispers back as the train grew larger on the horizon.

Only a few seconds passed till the train finally arrived, opening its doors in front of the couple. As Agent Four and Marie entered the train, which gave both a shot of fear.

"Bad things happen in trains," Agent Four whispered to himself as Marie sat down on the nearest seat.

"Yeah..." Marie responded, remembering moments of bad instances starting in trains.

Agent Four sat to Marie's left, switching positions with her. Marie hums to herself as the windows showed passing trees, with silhouettes of buildings slowly crawling to the right. The glass was glossy, but was not glossy enough to block the wonders of Inkopolis and the sinking sun. Marie smiles as she observes the sun slowly turning the blue sky yellow. Agent Four maneuvers his right hand and interlaces his fingers with that of Marie's. The two grew more tired, but less exhausted, especially for Agent Four, who needed the good sit. Like always, the train was empty, moving against the popular time to go home after hours of grinding on Turf War. Marie rests her head on Agent Four's shoulders, although less comfortably than the usual, as both are the same size.

"So, you ready to head to bed and break your sleep schedule again," Marie jokingly asks as the train enters a tunnel and slightly darkens the interior.

"Well, I've given up on fixing it," Agent Four responded, "but maybe this time."

"Knowing you, you probably will fix it for a night, and break it the next night," Marie joked as she fiddled with her fingers.

With the downtime, Agent Four's mind began rushing new ideas to the forefront, starting with the adorable inkling resting on him. He will never get used to Marie wearing anything other than her more traditional kimono. For him, the idea of seeing her in anything other than her green and black kimono uncomfortably sat in his heart. It is the clothing that he first saw her, and it is what she was wearing for the time that he was in the process of rescuing her cousin. Although she began wearing clothes other than her kimono after Callie's rescue, Agent Four still thought about how she looked in her kimono. The flowing dress danced in the wind, being shadowed by the accompanied parasol Marie would always carry with her. Her less traditional clothes just sat there, clinging to her skin, if not, bagging around gaps of air. Oddly enough, he preferred the dancing colors of her dress, rather than the still and ambient material that Marie preferred to wear.

Finally, when Agent Four thought he would be used to seeing Marie in anything but her kimono, after months of not seeing it, Marie just had to urge to dance. The dance, more specifically, was that of the more traditionally flavored version of Calamari Inkantation. To her defense, Marie still clutches on to her family's traditions, even if she is a beloved pop-star, it is still a noble cause. That specific dance brought back Marie and her classic look, geta and everything. Although Agent Four missed her more traditional look, a small portion of his mind still connects with the look of Marie in her traditional clothing, rather than in anything else. His mind was slightly annoyed now that a portion of his mind's precious resources will be spent on imagining Marie's grey-green look. However, his mind also thanks him for a slight benefit, seeing Marie smiling brightly at an activity she passionately loves. He is not expecting to remove this allocation of resources, the parasol was placed very openly in Marie's display board, directly eye level to him.

As the sun retreated to the horizon, the train approached the couple's intended station. Just a few minutes of walking to Marie's humble house. A few minutes passed and the two were forced to pull out of their resting state, their bodies whining to sit for a few more minutes. As the train stopped and the doors opened, the couple finally stood up and their bodies begged to sit down.

"Let's just get home quickly," Marie complained as she pulled Agent Four by the wrist out of the train, his mind still compensating for the sudden rise.

"I uh-I um," Agent Four stuttered as he was dragged out of the train, the rays from the nearest star blasting its rays on his eyes.

As buildings and their shadows passed the two Inklings, their destination grew closer and closer. The house was very small, almost a speck, but was enough motivation to keep their legs driving. Marie was still dragging Agent Four, as he constantly adjusted his backpack, his Dualies hitting the back of his leg. This minor annoyance was enough for Agent Four to simply keep on walking. The two glimmering silver dots meant that the vehicles were not used, which means that Callie must be home. Otherwise, Callie is walking on foot and is outside, which is very unlikely, despite her outgoing personality.

Agent Four giggled as a random though blew past his train of thought, causing Marie to look back in confusion, "Huh?"

"Hehe," Agent Four continued to giggle, "didn't you pick money over love during that one Splatfest?"

"What Splatfe- OH," Marie whispered to herself, "yeah what about it?"

"Do you have a change in heart," Agent Four jokingly asked with an almost drunken face.

Marie smiled as she continued to pull Agent Four, "Well, that was like what- two years ago? Quite a lot of things changed. A certain person in my life made me switch sides,money is quite more important than love."

"You can live with either love or money, or even both," Marie continued, "but there's a real question. Which one can you let go of, and still be happy?"

Agent Four was dumbfounded by Marie's sudden output of philosophical words, "Well, at least I know I won't be replaced or something like that."

"I feel like I've told you that indirectly in more instances than one," Marie chuckled as their home grew larger on the horizon.

With the sudden change in atmosphere, and the presence of the surrounding humble houses, Marie and Agent Four felt warm with each other. Both felt important within each other, thanking the circumstances that led them together. A few more minutes passed and the two ended up on the street of their house. Marie and Agent Four crossed the road and to their silent home. In front of the home was a parked car, with Agent Four being its owner, which blocked half of the slightly uphill front yard. The rise gave the home's basement room to stick a few windows on it. To the right of the front yard was a drive-in space for Marie and Callie's vehicle, with a roofed garage in front of it. The garage leads the eyes to ponder to the left, following the house' roof and the modern, thin-beveled windows that stuck bellow it. A line divided the garage, with the garage taking up a third of the face of the house, the other chunk of the face had a simple secure door that leads its center. The entirety of the house was that of a grey, white, and black pallet, giving it a modern kick.

As Marie unlocked the door with her phone, she was presented with a set of stairs up that leads to her and Agent Four's bedroom. To the left was a living room that was walled with a television, being faced by a set of bucket shaped couches. Looking right presented the dinning area, a simple long glass table was flanked by comfortable white chairs, being lit by a white cylinder directly above the table.

The two took no time to rush up the stairs and greeted the door that rested on their left. Marie quickly opened the door, which like it was choreographed, the main door closed shut and automatically locked. Marie and Agent Four took no time to take off their clothes, cutting down to the basic thin shirts and shorts, and jumped onto the bed.

With her back firmly rested, Marie looked to the left to see Agent Four pulling the blanket up, "Goodnight Four,"

"Goodnight Marie," Agent Four responded before kissing Marie's inviting lips.

He immediately fell on the two pillows he combined into one, and so he fell into dreamworld. Although Marie was not intended to fall asleep before dinner, she thought to herself that she might as well join Agent Four. Her eyes closed, as so did her consciousness, pushing her towards the void known as sleep, joining her agent.

* * *

_We are back. Fan fictions from me are going to be weakly now, reaching around 5000-6000 each chapter. It keeps me alive, and alleviates some pressure on me. Thank you for understanding, it's good to be back! Thank you for reading the first chapter!_


	2. Memories of Us

Chapter Two: Memories of Us

Marie was suddenly woken up by the grumbling of her stomach, which was likely due to the fact that she skipped dinner. Her eyes tracked to the right to see a cinematic window greeting her with the moonlight. Although she could not see the moon, the blue-light still greeted her eyes, which caused her eyes to punch her up. Marie's body sat straight up, rushing her ink to collect themselves. Her instincts caused her to look to the left and saw Agent Four's soft body melting into the bed, like dough on a pan. His breathing was soft but waving, like the dots on a coho. Marie smiled before swinging the blanket to Agent Four's side, giving her the freedom to sit with her legs hanging from the bed. She carefully maneuvered through the room, avoiding any creaking or sound that may be created by stepping on the wrong spot. Her body glides as she slowly approaches the door she accidentally left open from the hours that passed.

Marie exited the room and entered the most familiar hallway to her, only for her to exit the hallway quickly. She softly landed each step down the stairs, making little to no sound. Marie yawned before turning to the left and walking through the dinner table, avoiding the long glass and black metal table. The modern room was quickly passed as she was greeted by the kitchen, to the left of the dinner table. Her mouth quickly led her to the cupboard, which she quickly opened. Cold salty snacks waved open, despite her efforts to eat more healthy. Marie sighed before grabbing a clear back of chips, which she knew she wont even finish, nor would the bag satisfy her stomach. She closed the cupboard before turning around and heading back into the hallway.

"Heard ya," Callie suddenly called from a chair in the dinning room.

Marie jumped as she threw the bag up into the air, hitting the ceiling, "Callie!"

"Hehe," Callie's cute giggle reverberated in the room, causing her black tentacles to bounce around on her head, "gotcha!"

Marie shook her head as she grinned at the baggy looking Inkling, "Yeah yeah, you got me."

Callie stood up and stretched, causing her loose shirt to rise and move along with her arms, "You are not very quiet there."

"Well compared to Four, I'm silent," Marie responded as she leaned on a wall and opened the bag of chips.

"You look like you didn't get dressed before going to sleep," Callie comments as her eyes track up and down her groggy cousin, "how did you sleep in that?"

"First," Marie started as she finally ripped a whole in the bag, "I was too tired to get this thing off, second, I didn't. I passed out in it, so I didn't really have a choice."

"I see," Callie nodded as she motions her hands, as if to ask for some of the chips Marie was holding.

Marie, before taking a single one, hands over the entire bag to Callie, making her shine brightly in glee, "Just have the bag."

"Yay, thanks Marie," Callie exclaims as she snatches the bag from Marie's grasps, "you know there's actual food in the fridge right? I made extras for you, just heat them up or something."

"I would love to actually eat something," Marie whispered as she sat across from Callie, "but I'm kind of too lazy to move."

Callie swallowed before pointing at Marie with a smirk, "Sounds like you."

"What are you doing up so late," Marie asks as she adjusts to be more comfortable in the chair.

Callie took another chip and crushed it in her mouth, before talking in a bombastic way, "I'm trying to break a record."

Marie giggled, crossing her arms and legs as she looks at Callie with more than a confused look, "Record to see how long you can stay up?"

Callie simply nodded as she swallowed, prompting Marie to stand up and leave the room, "Have fun with that then."

"Mhm," Callie hummed before locking her focus on the bag.

Marie made her way up the stairs again, careful with every single step. Not a single creek or noise was uttered from the bottom of her foot. She ended at the top of the stairs, taking a breath, before entering her room again. As she enters her room, her eyes tracked to the top of the room's shelf, which had flat papers, which were dotted to the brim with black characters. Marie's eyes blinked before her arm reached unconsciously to the papers, grabbing the stack of fifteen papers. Her eyes tracked and read the first page, reading every single line and character with carefulness. The papers were informal logs, almost like a diary. After Agent Four heard of the case, with Agent Three's mind having been controlled by some mask when traveling with the Captain, he had became paranoid with the state of his mind. Marie's mind pictured every character with a vivid picture, as some parts of the paper showed memories, while some made her mind create a picture.

Her thoughts read through and created a scene, those not matching exactly those of Agent Four's experience.

It was that of a hot day, the sun beaming down from sky, only the canopy of the Battle Lobby covering Agent Four's surfaces. His eyes met those of Marie's, giving a look of appreciation, however, his body was entering auto-pilot. Agent Four's smile reverberated and bounced on the bright bottle he was holding, given to him by Marie. His mind was still running back the last few seconds of the past. With Marie coming out of nowhere, throwing the bottle at him, surprisingly, nothing spilled.

Marie was pulled out of the memory and the imagining of the moment, cringing at the fact that she pretended to be a bloodsucking vampire. Her mind skipped that part of the moment, and returned to the memories.

"Kick their butts champ, I'll watch you climb to X rank. I know you can do it. Do it for me!" She remembers calling.

Although for the papers, it ends there for the similarities between her memories and the papers. The Battle Lobby's door separated the two, and brought them to different paths. While the papers displayed those of results from the battles, knocking Agent Four up a few points, Marie's memories showed those returning back to her home.

"You're really loud when moving papers and crap there Marie," Agent Four suddenly called from the bed while scratching his eyes, "you might need to get better at being quiet."

Marie jumped, "Geez Four you scared me. But no, give me one time you had woken up from me?"

"From those nightmare nights you had," Agent Four answered, "also, you woke me up with pieces of paper, so I don't know who's more right here."

"I see your point there," Marie responded as she placed the papers back on the shelf.

"How's my super coolio log there Marie?" Agent Four asked as he saw Marie turn to him, slowly approaching him.

Marie stopped before looking back at the stack of papers, "Yes, I don't know why I never had read it before."

"Hungry?" Agent Four asked in a calm tone, changing the subject entirely.

"Um...yes? Why," Marie answered in a reluctant way.

Agent Four turned to the left and hung her legs down the bed, sitting, before turning to the right and looking at Marie with a genuine smile, "I remember that one night you woke me up for a night drive. You said you just wanted to go to the store, but in reality you needed a time to vent with just us and no one else. How about we actually go out and buy something, there's nothing much to vent."

Marie tilted her head to the right, slightly confused about the last comment, "Sure, but do you have anything to expel out?"

"No," Agent Four simply answered, "I'm just hungry and all that."

Agent Four finally stood up, stretching upwards after. Marie walked up near Agent Four and grabbed a set of keys from his nightstand. While Marie bent down, Agent Four suddenly wrapped his arms and his body from behind her, surprising her with a random spark of love.

"We didn't cuddle tonight, I gotta make up for it," Agent Four said through her body, with Marie still recognizing what she said.

"You're adorable," Marie whispered as she clasps the keys in her hand, "when we come back we will, but after we eat."

"Pizza," Agent Four asked, resting his left ear on Marie's lower neck, suggesting an item before a war ensues on whoever was supposed to think of the food.

Marie nodded, "Sure, who's driving?"

"Mine, I know you don't want to drive," Agent Four answered as he slowly retracted.

"How would you know that?"

"Because I've been driving for the past month," Agent Four simply answered.

Marie scratched her head, "Have we be really been waking up late at night that much?"

"I mean yeah," Agent Four slowly answered as he looked to the right to look through their close, "We both have been destroying our sleep schedule."

"It would really suck if we are called in a mission and we did not get sleep the night before," Marie whispered, looking at Agent Four scanning the closet.

Agent Four looked at Marie, still crouching down on his knee, "Um...that's oddly specific, but yeah sure."

As Agent Four unhooked a Mountain Coat, Marie went ahead and started the vehicle from the comforts of their home. Although they bear jackets that are warm enough for the midnight chills, they want to enter a vehicle that's filled with that of warm air. Finally, with the zipper zipped up, he insisted Marie to wear something thicker than her Positive Longcuff Sweater. It took a few attempts before Marie finally wore her Eggplant Mountain Coat, matching Agent Four's outfit. Now, any Inkling or Octoling that they may see may guess that they are together. Surprisingly enough, the secret of Marie and Agent Four being together had not been to big of a rumor to be rotating around every Cephelapod's mind. Most are too busy ranking up than to care for a fact that might not even be true, besides, respect for a returning beloved artist. The only real criticism of Marie, was her and Callie's new song took more than a year to release.

With enough time passed, Agent Four and Marie headed out of their home to enter the vehicle. Agent Four's vehicle was not too warm, however, it was the temperature that Marie and Agent Four did not want to leave out of. Their destination became a small humble convenience store, topped with blue and red lighting. The front was glassed, with posters of team recruitment and advertisements from Ammo Knights, displaying a tint of amateurishness. It's owner, an old Sea Angel, a dweller from the deep sea Metro. The New Squidbeak Splatoon heard of the slug after Agent Three's check ups for Commander Tartar activity. Agent Three, with her charm, acquainted the slug quickly, learning of his history dwelling the metro. She learned that the slug had always imagined the surface, and wanted to live there, his reasoning being that the surface could not be any worse than the metro. A swift rescue was planned only days after, with Agent Three showing the route out, ensuring the slug was not hurt by any encounter with water or any other dangerous substances. From what the Splatoon learned after his emergence, it turns out that Sea Angels are prone to rage when annoyed, and that is the reason most, if not all, stay underground. The old slug however, told that he was too old to spend his last few moments of his life angry, so he wanted to escape the underground to find peace. Oddly enough, that peace was to open a convenience store in a neighborhood that desperately needed one. Whenever an agent would visit, the slug would always talk and banter about having fun serving people. Solemnly, the agents know that the Sea Angel's life is shrinking by the minute, and his death is inevitable.

A white vehicle glowed through the glass, catching the attention of the Sea Angel. The lights dimmed till they muttered out, only to queue the exit of two recognizable Inkling. Agent Four offered the door open to Marie, to which she quickly accepted and greeted the old chap.

"How are you tonight Mr. Clade," Marie greeted, "still not gonna give us your name?"

"Cut me some slack here, your boyfriend doesn't even know his name," the Sea Angel joked as he chuckled and shook his head.

Agent Four popped his head up to answer back, however, he knew he had nothing to come back with.

"What are you two doing so late here," the gentle slug asks, "you need something."

"Hungry," Agent Four quietly answered, "haven't eaten dinner."

The slug shook his head, "You two know it's too late for dinner now right? Eh, whatever, I've got that homemade pizza I know you guys like cooking up for tomorrow morning, so as soon as it's done, I'll give some to you."

"If you have any cold pizza that would be lovely," Marie responded, trying to courteously help push out the slug's unsold pizza.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer that, young Inkling," the Sea Angel answered, "all of it's been sold."

"By who," Agent Four curiously asked.

Like some play, Agent Three and Agent Eight showed themselves exiting the ladies washrooms. Answering the question, to Agent Four's curiosity.

"Those guys," Agent Four responded, "so that's why there's a vehicle parked back there."

"Oh, well, if it isn't you two," Agent Three greeted with glee.

"How are you two," Agent Eight humbly asked.

Although it had been a while since Agent Eight's emergence from the underground, Agent Four and Marie were always surprised to see Agent Eight's personality crawling from her dark past. Moreover, Agent Eight kept her personality in-check for a while after her emergence, but ever since Agent Three forced her to play a match with her during a Splatfest, Eight's personality started punching through the walls.

"Good, we're good," Marie answered, showing a sign of fatigue and hunger.

Agent Three chuckled as she pulled her parka from Forge, fixing her look a tad bit, "You two look really tired."

"But matching," Agent Eight added, inspecting the two, seeing how their jackets matched.

"I see you're rocking the Sailor there Eight, looking fresh," Marie complemented.

"You forgot the pizza Eight," Agent Three notices as she looks around for a small box, but to no avail.

Agent Eight echoed her actions, looking around, only to end up remembering that she brought the pizza to the bathroom for some odd reason, "I think I know where it is."

"If you're going to wait for someone to get done, at least remember your pizza," Agent Three muttered out, trying to show how absurd the situation is.

Agent Four nodded, "Pizza in the bathroom. Okay."

"So yeah, you two came here for pizza too," Agent Three asks as she sees Agent Eight rushing to the bathroom to retrieve the forgotten pizza.

"Yeah, I guess we'll hang around till you guys get your pizza," she started again.

"Which is soon," the old Sea Angel answers, looking at the oven to see the pizza rising from its pan.

"Marie," Agent Four started from the aisle that can be seen through the front glass, "you want anything else?"

"No I'm good," Marie answers as she approached Agent Three from the farther side of the counter, "How's Eight?"

"Eight's been more open than she's had been, honestly I think she's over the metro. Remember, she did help us with finding ways around the metro when we rescued Mr. Angel Slug over there," she answered straight forward, as if it was choreographed, "but with living here in Inkopolis, she's a natural now."

"Anything new on the Squidbeak Splatoon updates," Marie asks, "have you gotten around convincing Gramps to switch all of Splatoon updates on his phone?"

"No," Agent Three chuckled, "I can't convince Cuttlefish to switch from calls to automatic texts. Heck, I can't even convince him to maintain a group chat."

Marie shook her head, "If some doomsday thing happens, he's going to be late to the party."

"Well, I guess we need luck," Three responded, "I mean, the same luck that Pearl and Marina had with the radio."

"We are not going to have enough of that though," Marie responded, "we can only run on fumes for so long."

"I think we already run out, we haven't found Tartar yet," Agent Three added, "that telephone pole. I admit, that guy probably has more luck than Squidbeak. He avoided certain death, then put wheels on himself, and now he can hypnotize Cephelapods... Speaking of which, hows Agent Four?"

The question reverberated in Marie's mind. She remembers vividly, the time that Agent Four became hypnotized by Tartar's mask. Two and Four had to fight each other, but luckily, Marie was skilled enough to snipe the mask out with her charger, but it left Agent Four mentally unstable. His paranoia did not help, as his consciousness had to learn how to learn how to react on its own again. Luckily, the damage was not too much, as the hypnotization was short, but it was not shorter than Agent Three's experience with the mask. Marie was not willing to delve deeper into that memory, unless necessary.

"He's recovered well," Marie answered quietly, "his games has been keeping his mind running, but I'm going to try and find something that distracting, just in case the instability comes back."

"Most likely not," Agent Three responded, with Agent Eight with a box of pizza entering Marie's field of view.

Agent Four, out of respect, faced the aisles as he was waiting for Marie to be done talking with Three. He did not want to intrude, mainly because he thought to himself that he would not have anything to add to the conversation. Oddly, one skill he learned from this humble little store was to do stock and face aisles. The candies and small accessories had been faced, and now, he had moved on to the small take out foods.

"Does Agent Four normally do that," Agent Eight asks.

"Well, I actually don't know," Marie answers, "hey, if he's moving, its good I guess."

"Pizza is almost done agents," the wrinkled Sea Angel called out.

"Thank you Mr. Clade," Agent Four responded while the three ladies entered another conversation, "I've faced the front and some other places."

"Why thank you young Inkling," the old Sea Angel called, "say, you mind coming here, I need to talk to you."

Agent Four obediently went to the cash register where the slug crouched and went closer to whispering distance with Agent Four.

"What do you think of Marie," the slug asks in a knowledgeable tone.

Agent Four looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"I meant, from your perspective, as her boyfriend, how do you see her?"

"I don't know," Agent Four started, taking a second to think before answering, "I guess I see her as rare, a rare gem. She can't really be compared to anyone else, Inklings like her only come every once per lifetime."

"I see you have a keen eye on females," the Sea Angel joked before entering a more serious atmosphere, "what are your plans for the future? You think you'll stay with her, marry her, or is she just a throw away?"

"Plans, that's what I have for the future," Agent Four quickly answered, "with her. I just hope she's along for the ride, I really want a future with her."

"Let me tell you a little story, a bit sad, but, I've gotten over it," the slug started, "I remember back in my younger years, relative to you, about your age. I met another Sea Angel, she was so beautiful, kind, and pure. We dwell within the same depths as the metro, meeting at that complicated system of tunnels."

"Where are you going with this," Agent Four interrupts.

"Shh, just listen," he responded back, "she was the only one who cared for someone like me. We talked, and every word we spoke was passionate and with care. I remember falling in love with her after the twentieth train ride with her, and her telling me the same at that moment. We never broke apart. Never. This is something I've never told anyone but you, so listen close. That girl and I had been together for so long, we decided to marry each other, and us not knowing where our homes are, we just decided to do it without our parent's approval. After that, I've never felt lonely ever since."

The old slug started to let out motions of sadness, but he kept going, "When we tried to have young together, we just couldn't do it for some reason. For years we tried and tried, but to no avail."

Agent Four continued listening, even if the tone shifted from happy to dark in a snap, hoping to learn something the easy route, "But we kept going. That is how strong our trust, and our love was. You told me one time that trust was more important than love, and I knew you were smart when you said that, so listen close to this message young Inkling."

The slug pointed at Marie, who's back was turned to them, "Don't let that one go. No matter what, never take anything for granted. Learn it the easy way, don't learn it the way I did."

Agent Four solemnly looked at the slug before looking at the laughing Marie, who did not know of the serious conversation him and the slug were having. He smiled as Marie showed hers, cracking up a joke with the other two agents.

"I remember when she told me that she finally was able to find a way out of the metro," the Sea Angel started again, "I also remembered begging her to stay. But a strong lad had to let her go to make sure she fulfills her dreams of seeing the surface. Anger was what I felt, but, I know it was not the emotion she did not want to see. So I accepted it, I remember letting out our last goodbye together on that train ride. I remember regretting that I had taken my limited words with her for granted, wasting some of it on something else other than her. Don't make the same mistake as me Four, don't take any single second with her for granted. Make her feel loved, cared, and cherished, because you never know when she just might disappear..."

"I already do that," Agent Four solemnly answers, "I learned that from her."

"With you two being all smart, I wouldn't doubt it," the slug slowly retracts, "thanks for listening there chap. I hope you learned _something_ ,"

"I did, one way or another," Agent Four responds, sparking a thought.

"The pizza is done lads," the slug called as he opens the oven, releasing a wide smell that is iconic to the meal.

"You already know what I want," Marie responds, "and you know him and his pineapples."

"Hey," Agent Four called, "how can you dislike pineapple on pizza for being a fruit when the sauce itself is a fruit."

"The argument continues," Agent Three whispers to herself, thinking back at the time she witness the two discussing the same topic.

As two small flat boxes close, the smell filled the room with the smell of culminating cooked dough and fruits and other ingredients. This was the smell that anyone would jump to find where the source of the smell is.

"For you two," the slug called, pushing the two thin boxes forward, with the boxes labelled by name.

"Thank you," Marie smiled, "I hope we didn't bother you tonight."

"Don't worry about it, come anytime," the old slug responded, flicking his wrist.

Agent Three and Eight opened the door, both turning around at the Sea Angel before leaving, "See you soon!"

The slug waved back before the two agents left, Marie and Agent Four stayed slightly longer to catch up.

"Anything new," Marie asked as she opens the box to smell the pizza.

The Sea Angel shook his head, "Not much that you already know, been just spending life making people happy and all..."

"I see, any new plans?"

"No, honestly," he answered, "nothing new, nothing going to be new."

"Are you sure you're satisfied," Agent Four somewhat bluntly asks.

The Sea Angel shrugged, "Yeah, I think."

"We're going to head out now," Marie called as she opened the door, "goodnight!"

"Goodnight Marie," the Sea Angel called, "goodnight Four."

"Goodnight," he responded before the two finally left the store.

The chills of the night reentered the atmosphere around the two, however, the hot boxes were enough to let them survive and give them time to enter the vehicle. Agent Four forgot to start the car first, so the two had to wait a few minutes before the car grew hot. The pizza boxes helped, however, the boxes were targets to the couple's stomachs. Without leaving the parking lot, or even leaving, the two began eating while waiting for their favorite temperature. As the car ran its engine, the two began filling their empty stomachs with one of their favorite foods. Sadly, the two forgot to bring drinks, and had grew too lazy to go out to the convenience store and buy a drink. Agent Four had adapted Marie's weird laziness, where she can be motivated and be driven to exhaustion, however sometimes, a simple objective cannot be completed because comfort is first.

"I kind of miss pizza," Marie commented before taking a bite over the large single slice of pizza.

"We literally just had pizza a few days ago," Agent Four responded before taking a bite.

Marie looked at Agent Four, pretending to be mad. Agent Four thought she was adorable, seeing her pretending to be mad. Marie's puffing face from the pizza in her mouth, the eyes squinting, and her mouth still glowing a slight smile, brought him much joy. Even better, the smile was not that of her half-effort, smug-like smile, it was that of true happiness. Her smile when she's happy, and when she's forced to smile, is quite different. Good for Agent Four, this meant it is easier to tell if Marie is actually happy or not, knowing if she's just pretending, or her happiness was that of a genuine one. This smile was a genuine one, besides, no Inkling would be unhappy when given pizza. Smartly enough, Marie and Agent Four pay directly for their pizza and food, they do not need to remember to pay when it's just fed into the Sea Angel's account.

As the food diminishes to nothingness, the two decided to return home, satisfied.

Agent Four began backing up, exiting the parking space of the convenience store, "To home we go!"

"Aw crab carps," Marie whispered, "I see the sun!"

"No you do not there," Agent Four responded, finally driving forward, heading home.

"Well I mean no," Marie added, "but orange isn't the color of the sky when its midnight though."

"Well, darn," Agent Four whispered, "oh well, lets just get some sleep."

As the the vehicle passed Inkopolis Plaza, Marie entered a moment of nostalgia. She exactly remembers where the trucks would park, to give her and Callie a place to perform. Marie misses being the center piece of Inkling culture, but the world has changed. The place and hub for Inkling culture became Inkopolis Square, and two new pop-stars became the face of Inkopolis news. So much has changed, that not only do Inklings enjoy the culture, but the ever emerging numbers of deep sea creatures. Octolings joined the ever so popular Turf War, so those who enjoyed the culture have changed. Inkopolis was even joked by Pearl and Marina, saying how the name of the city should change its name to Cephalopolis, moreover, the joke became a serious movement. The inclusion of Octolings changed the atmosphere, and thus, a movement for a simple name change had been made to include these Octopi. However, some say that Inkopolis is obscure enough, only having ink as its name, not including specific creatures.

As Inkopolis Plaza was passed and shrunk, Marie was pulled back to the present. She knows her time was well spent in Inkopolis safely and was spent with much satisfaction. However, Agent Four was quiet, despite Marie spilling a few thoughts about the plaza. Agent Four was thinking about the Sea Angel's story, with him and his wife. The lesson stuck out like a sore thumb, and he began to think of his relationship to be more serious than he already does. He soaked in every moment, not taking Marie for granted, not that he does. Moreover, he began to rethink everything that he wanted from him and Marie. However, a small detail was spoken out, and he unsuspectingly took it to heart. The Sea Angel's wife could be out there, she could be dwelling Inkopolis, which means, the two good return together. That, is when his plan hatched.

"Marie," Agent Four whispered as he enters his and her's neighborhood.

Marie looked at Agent Four and tilted her head, "Yeah Four?"

Agent Four stopped at an intersection and looked at Marie, "Could you help me out with something?"


	3. We Find Them

Chapter Three: We Find Them

"You know our good friend Sea Angle over there," Agent Four asks as he accelerates through the intersection, with Marie's full attention.

Marie nodded, firm and with no pull back, "Yes, why?"

Agent Four exhaled, trying not to become emotional over the words he is about to mutter, "The slug has a dark background. He didn't do anything wrong, but, his life wasn't the happiest."

"Well of course," Marie replied, her face being dotted by passing lights and displays, "he's basically lived in the metro for his entire life."

"No no no, there's something much worse," Agent Four shook his head, "I mean-it all started nice and fine, but there was a dip, then, it just went downhill."

"Well, go on, tell me," Marie offers, sitting back and relaxing herself to the inevitable storytelling.

Agent Four gulped, "He met a girl when he was younger, they got married, had a fun time, loved and loved, but uhh-"

"Well, go on," Marie interrupted, wanting him to continue more and at a faster pace than her exhaustion could run.

"Maybe let me finish Marie," Agent Four joked in a scolding tone, "well, where was I? Oh, yes, right, they...couldn't...let's just say they can't pass on their lives to the next generation..."

"Oh," Marie uttered, crossing her arms and knocking her head down, "that's quite unfortunate..."

"That's not the worse of it," Agent Four continued, with the downtown culture hub of Inkopolis slowly disappearing on the mirrors, "his wife, really wanted to get out of the metro, so when she finally found a way out, she left."

"She didn't take him with her," Marie asks, curiosity striking a place in her heart.

Agent thought about it, not remembering a detail involving the Sea Angel's wife being able to take him with her, "I would assume that she probably couldn't one way or another. If she could, she probably would've taken him in the first place."

"True," Marie nodded, saddened by the fact, "I guess...go on..."

"He tried telling her to stay, to stay with him," Agent Four paused as he felt his chest being punctured by sadness itself, "she didn't stay..."

"So for that one part of his life," Marie started, sighing, "he was happy. That Sea Angel was happy to have her, only for his wife to leave him for her dreams."

"Dream sometimes are more important than the most important beings in your life, according to some people," Agent Four sighed, blinking, "including his wife..."

"What's more important," Marie suddenly asks, placing Agent Four on the edge, making him clasp the steering wheel tighter, "being the best player in Ranked, or making me the happiest Inkling alive?"

Agent Four relaxed, already knowing his final answer, "Is that even a question? You're more important that my temporary endeavours."

"We're temporary Four," Marie responded sincerely, "we're not going to live forever, which means we can't love each other forever... Are you sure you want to spend your limited time on this place with making stubborn and spoiled and lazy pop-star Marie?"

"Why are you going so deep," Agent Four asked quietly, gulping after, "you can probably answer it yourself, yes, yes, yes."

Then suddenly, Marie giggled softly, "You sound like me that one night, if was in a bad mood."

Agent Four shook his head, "Sudden change in subject I see."

"I got my mind in the wrong place I guess," Marie laughed, shifting her body around to sit more comfortably.

"It's adorable whenever you do that," Agent Four chuckled, "honestly, I find it fascinating."

"So, we're looking for his wife," Marie took a shot at Agent Four's objective.

Agent Four nodded, "Yeah, give them the opportunity to be together..."

"I knew that's what we are going to do," Marie whispered as she knocks her head to the window softly to stare at the bright vivid lights of Downtown Inkopolis.

"I just need to find a way to get that thing done," Agent Four whispers to himself, "Inkopolis is not a small world. We will need a lot of luck and information to find one Sea Angel."

"One out of the two we know," Marie responded, sparking a sense of hope, "besides, it's probably not going to be hard to find a Sea Angel walking among the small Cephelapods and Jellies."

Agent Four exhaled, "I guess, but we are still trying to find a speck of dust on a sea of ink."

"I know what you're talking about," Marie nodded, sharing a moment of frustration, "I mean...hey, at least it will be a big moment when we do find her."

"Warming up some hearts, but only those who know the New Squidbeak Splatoon," Four exhaled.

The vehicle drove a few more minutes, with the lights of Inkopolis flooding the interior of the vehicle. However, the sun's bright smiled started to crawl up from the horizon, with its yellow and orange amber flares brightening the surfaces of the Cephelapod city. As much as the city shines bright of reflective ink and puddle, the underground fog of the clouds leak of sadness. The visible side of Inkopolis, with a little digging, show a dark and monotone city. With the city always under threat of destruction, and with some individuals struggling to stay afloat on the social traditions. Underneath the shadows of Inkopolis, lies individuals that cannot find others to hang on to. The Deepsea Metro displays this vividly well, with many creatures struggling to escape the voids that are left untouched by the beauty of light. Darkness, sadness, and somberness is where these deep sea creatures are born, raised, and rest for their last few moments in life. Happiness is what Agent Four wanted to give the lone Sea Angel, to make him stand out, as one of the few that experience what true happiness is.

As the vehicle enters its parking space, the vehicle stopped, with the sun a quarter of its face open. Half of the sky had turned salmon orange, with the sky greeting any pair of eyes that were open at the time. As the two agents exit the vehicle, their eyes were forced to squint, as the sun gave the pair a bright hug. Marie and Agent Four entered the house, to see Callie passed out in the living room, with a bag of chips laying on her stomach. Her black tentacles flowing down passed the backrest of the couch as she snores, with her mouth wide open.

Out of Agent Four's sync, Marie entered the kitchen, causing Four to follow suit. Marie approached a small but tall machine with a cylindrical top, with a glass pot hanging below. She simply pressed a button and the machine began whining as liquid was seen flowing through a clear throat on the side of the black box.

"How about we attempt to fix our sleeping schedule," Marie chuckled as she reached up to the cupboards to take out two white mugs.

"You already know what I want," Agent Four smiled before he exhaled in exhaustion.

Marie's mug was pitch black, while Agent Four's drink was that of sand tan and with white thin bubbles when the liquid met with the solid white mug. Steam was flowing upwards, meeting with the noses of both Inklings. Oddly enough, it is unknown what makes the water that Inklings drink safe, but others not. Most think it is the acidity, the minerals in the water, or the dosage of water, either way, most Inklings enjoy mornings and late all-nighters. With the enlightening drinks entering the two agent's bodies, Callie wakes up in the living room to the laughter of the two

"Something moved," Marie whispered, causing Agent Four to stand still, clasping his mug.

Agent Four was ready for anything, until his mind connected the dots, he sighed, "Callie's awake..."

With a small ruffle, a high pitched, recognizable voice echoed from the living from, through the dinning area, and into the kitchen, "I smell that!"

"I brewed an extra for you Callie," Marie shouted back before quick stomps were heard and felt.

Callie seemingly appeared out of nowhere, when she reached for a mug and poured herself a dosage, "Thanks Marie!"

"No problem," Marie responded before her eyebrows shot up, "Oh, and also good morning."

Callie finally calmed down, giving time for her tentacles to rest at their unnatural state, messy, chaotic, and unpredictable, "Nice hair."

"I can sense the sarcasm in those syllables," Callie chuckled before blowing a breath on her black drink to carry some heat and throw it into the air.

Agent Four laughed, "Looks like your hair was stuffed with a Splat Bomb and your hair just reacted to the explosion."

"I can't disagree honestly," Callie responded as she took her first sip.

"What time is it," Marie asked, changing the subject.

"Time for the rest of Inkopolis to wake up, and get those stores running," Four answered as he looked at his phone's greeting.

The three enjoyed a calming morning, knowing that they have a shot at fighting through the day. They hoped that the energetic drink can push them to fixing their sleep schedule. After the three were done, the populous had woken up and began interacting with Inkopolis' intricate parts and cultures. The mugs were washed, and Marie and Agent Four explained their personal objectives to Callie. Instantly, the cousin was on board, she wanted to find this other Sea Angel. No one can deny that this objective had a spoonful of pettiness for the lone slug involved, their personal connection drove them deep into the psyche and the deep waters of the Sea Angel. Sadly, the happiness that glowed through the Sea Angel cannot be described as real with real confidence, there's always a slight pull back. There's always a small part of the Splatoon's mind that thinks that the happiness displayed was a just a mask, with a deeper and sadder story being hidden. The release of his personal story to Agent Four, the agents may have been right with their assumptions.

"So, where are we going to start," Callie asks, crossing her arms after her allegiance was expressed.

Agent Four simply sighed, "We first tell the rest of the group, we basically have a militia at this point, and it always seems like no one is busy. So we should probably tell the Splatoon about it first, get a bunch more pair of eyes, while still keeping this group a secret."

Callie nodded, "I see what we're doing, anyways...you got ahold of Agent Three?"

"Um, we met them like an hour ago at the old slug's store," Marie confusingly asks, "why?"

Callie shrugged, "Nothing, anything new from them though?"

"Not much," Marie answered, still confused as to Callie's intent.

With the three ready to roll, a plan was written. Contact every member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and rally up every pair of legs to help out with the search. Only a few minutes in, all members were driving or making their way to the outpost. Tentakeel Outpost had became the meeting grounds for any operations or briefing that involved the Splatoon. A simple rule, is that if one member is to call the Splatoon, then the objective that the member had in mind must require multiple members to be involved. The search for the Sea Angel's wife filled in that criteria. It would be impossible for one member and one member only to find that one elusive slug.

The drive to Inkopolis Square was long and dry. All three agents were dying to meet with other agents at the outpost and call the mission official. Inkopolis Square held an entrance to the outpost, just to the left of the Battle Lobby's entrance. The entrance was a loose grating that Cephelapods can swim through, giving them access to a long enduring tunnel that took them to the distant outpost. Inkopolis and its tall elegant buildings are only silhouettes from the outpost, giving a clear indication on how far away the outpost is, and how long the tunnel is. The outpost was one of few known centers for Octarian activity. So much so, that the outpost is littered with a few gratings that take any visitor to the Octarian dimension, as Marie described to Agent Four during his first visit.

With the vehicle arriving at the back of Off the Hook's studio, the three decided to go down the drain one at a time, to reduce chances of attracting the wrong pair of eyes. First was Callie, although she did not struggle with the outside environment, but with herself, resisting the urge to immediately jump out into costume and reveal herself as one of the Squid Sisters. With a moment passed, Agent Four went ahead, who did not struggle, as compared to the females, he was not a beloved and famous pop-star and former news host. At most, he is a well known fighter on the grounds of Ranked Battle, climbing higher and faster than anyone else, despite the numerous down-ranks, who hangs out with the Squid Sisters. If one is to know Agent Four, it is more than likely to be recognized as one of the pop-star's body guards. It is still a fresh memory when Callie pointed at him, Agent Three, and Eight, and said to a couple of fans that they were their security, or now, body guards. The other pop-stars were in for the joke, and agreed on that description. However, that calling name may take a weird turn, as some rumors float around, discussing and saying that Marie is dating her own body guard. A moment passed, and it was Marie's turn. She exited the vehicle and turned the opposite direction from where the car was pointing. Marie's face hardened, trying not to bring out her smug smile, a signature look, and one that would give her away. She walked down the alley, took a right, walked a few more steps, only to turn a slight right. The grating was ahead of her, across from the main road of the square, luckily for Marie, no car was permitted in the square from there on out. She gave a confident aura, walking down the square, only looking forward with her shoulders leveled and her hands swinging with a reason. Marie looked at the grating, with a moment of nostalgia, she smiled. She pretended to look from Agent Four's perspective, to see how he would've seen her standing on the grating with her kimono. Marie was taken back, remembering moments of crafting and tailoring her kimono for her traditional roots and nostalgia. Then her laziness took over and she decided to buy her pairing umbrella from the prop store, as she admitted during a conversation with Callie and Agent Four at the outpost. Marie smiled as she approached the grating, stepping around the orange circle, and turning into a squid.

The green squid swam as fast as she could, draining each and every fume of her stamina. Luckily for her, she was a former pop-star, her singing and performances from days past, and coupled with her agent missions built her up to be extremely efficient with her energy. The tunnel was dark, clearly one that would scare of any potential visitors, except for Agent Four. Marie grew happy as her memories took her back to the moment when Callie approved of her and Four, saying that she chose right. A few minutes of more swimming, and beam of light grew stronger and stronger, till finally, air surrounded her body, prompting her to turn into an Inkling.

"Welcome Marie," Agent Three greeted as she shook to remove some slight chills from the ink that Marie released.

Marie stomped onto the grating and shook off any excess ink from her body, giving her a light feeling.

"So why don't we have systems of transportation with those tunnels," Agent Eight whispered to herself.

Captain Cuttlefish laid a hand on her shoulder and sighed, "It wasn't fun hitting other Inkling in those things, trust me, we oldies tried."

The Captain was the head and founder of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. He is an old one, fighting in the longest, most brutal Cephelapod war in history. Captain Cuttlefish is a legend among both Octarians and Inkling, brandishing a history of leading a famous division called "Squidbeak Splatoon." His service branded him with many titles and decorations, planting his name and history in many minds of both Inkling and Octarian books. However, he had shown his age. His skin is now rather wrinkly, and carries around a cane, not his weapons of choice during the Great Turf War. What he had thought of Octarians had changed, especially with Agent Eight coming as an Octoling into the Splatoon. His heart became more accepting as he and Agent Eight travelled through the Deepsea Metro, escaping by hyping Eight up for trials that she faced through to have them both escape the Metro. Cap'n Cuttlefish also grew more familiar with Octolings, as he had grown into being used to seeing Octolings and Inklings mingling within themselves in Inkopolis Square. Some agents believe that Cap'n Cuttlefish is embarrassed with his first name, with a history like that, it would seem mundane to not have a special name, a name only given to legends. Frankly, his first name is shared with those of other able bodies in Inkopolis, Craig.

"Yeah but like, we have a metro for crying out loud, can't we find a solution to make Cephelapods stop hitting each other," Agent Eight curiously asked as she strokes one of her wings, a tentacle, that traveled down the left side of her head.

Cap'n Cuttlefish simply shook his head, "It ain't that easy when no one has room to move or to dodge someone traveling your speed."

Marie looked to the right slightly to see the Captain talking with the sitting Agent Eight, in front of the small hut that she grew to love hanging out at. She remembers Agent Four always popping out of the grating, only a few counts after she had already stood in front of the hut. Agent Four would always have a plain look, like was not excited, nor annoyed at his responsibility. However, the best part of those days are when Agent Four would sit and chat with her for a moment, catching up with her actions and trading opinions. Although the talks would sometimes last longer than she would intend, Marie grew fond of Agent Four, and loved the conversations with him, which only grew longer and longer. After Agent Four's successful retaking of the Great Zapfish and the return of Callie from Octavio's brainwashing, the old enemy of the Splatoon, Marie had began creating hour long conversations with the Inkling she grew fond of. However, with the recent break up with her old boyfriend, Marie couldn't stay put, but she had to be loyal and have dignity. It took a slight while, shorter than expected however, for Marie to fall in love with Agent Four. The two grew and melted together, creating a powerful trust and bond that only a cute mentor and a hard working student would have. Though even that, that trust and bond grew to a love, a blooming flower that was waiting for the perfect conditions to show itself to the world.

"Marie," Agent Four called, snapping Marie out of her tangence.

Marie looked to the right to see Agent Four, who slowly pulled her out of the radius of the grating with his hand and her arm. Only a moment away, Pearl and Marina popped out of the grating together, shaking off the ink and spraying the area for a while.

Agent Eight stomped up and pointed at Marina and Pearl, "Then how the heck can they do it but not other Cephelapods? We need that swimming system around Inkopolis Captain!"

"It'll be expensive to do so," Cuttlefish argued, "but if you convinced those in charge that they should do it, then maybe they'll make your dream come true."

"I don't hold up much to talk though," Agent Eight sighed, sitting back down, leveling herself with Captain Cuttlefish.

With every agent finally arrived, talk began. Agent Four, and Two, Marie, began to recap any piece of information that the other agents have received. Marie began echoing the information that already flowed through passing of word. She states that the known and loved Sea Angel from the Deepsea Metro told of his history to Agent Four, that history being that of a sad one. The story was told solemnly, involving Marie talking slow and low, setting up the mood for the next few sentences to come. Agent Four told the story to destroy any misinformation that may have been drawn or concluded because of the passing of the story.

He told the story of his past as raw as possible. Agent Four told every detail he knew, even involving the surrounding environment to drive the point forward. The story starts with the Sea Angel wanting to give Agent Four a story and a lesson, weirdly skipping the first questions that the slug asked, to Marie's confusion. She remembers that Agent Four never gave his answer to her, but she can deduce the answer very easily. Agent Four details the moment when the Sea Angel told the story, his sad metro past, with him spending the majority of his life deep underground. His happiness came from a girl he met when he was younger, and the two relied onto each other, and planned to have young. However, something occurred that removed the chances of the two making something together. Then, his wife was given a chance to escape the deep metro, and she did, leaving the Sea Angel they know behind. No reason was given as to why she could not take him with her. A new agenda was created, finding that female, so that the old slug can spend the last few seconds of his life happy with his wife.

The whole splatoon was silent, however, Marie was visibly enclosed and more lost in her thoughts.

Agent Three broke the silence a few seconds later, giving her take to the mission, "Let's do it."

Eight looked to the right to see Three confident with the mission, "I agree. Not to much of a burden for all of us to make someone happy."

Pearl peeled out her shell a tiny bit, and showed compassion, "Should we broadcast a thing for that?"

Callie shook her head, "We don't want an army, but we still want to find that Sea Slug."

Cap'n Cuttlefish stood up and held onto his cane, making Agent Eight and Three look to the left to see him, "I think we should do it, we hadn't had a group mission in a while. We've only had one Cephelapod missions, either involving finding Tartar and the Deepsea Metro. It's best if we worry about something light this time, don't you all think?"

Agent Four nodded, "It's something small, I don't think any of us are bothered by this?"

Everyone nodded, with Marina speaking after, "Let's keep this a secret I guess."

The whole splatoon was dismissed, coming out the valley with a different mind. Agent Four, Two, and One exited the area in their vehicle, driving back to their house. A loud telling and an open retelling of the story gave the three a new sense in life, a new perspective. Marie and Agent Four began being more appreciative of each other, despite their embarrassing start. Callie kept smiling to herself, knowing that if an Inkling or Octoling were to come into her life, that it would be the right one. Oddly enough, Callie was not known for wanting to be in a relationship, however, she's still an Inkling, she wanted someone to love. It was part of her devious past, one she already forgot, that she wanted Agent Four to herself, but after finding out Marie's fondness and want for Agent Four, she killed the idea and went on looking for someone else. This search has been one with no ends, but no checkpoints, no one, in her opinion, had come into her life as a potential partner. However, despite her ever growing desire to find someone, she Callie had never put more effort than she already has at finding someone.

In Agent Four and Marie's case however, the two have grown into each other. Marie and Agent Four always find a way to get into each other's minds and heart, for better or for worse. With that, the two know exactly what the other doesn't and does want in each other, and luckily for them, their desires match. Finding someone, love them, and settle, is what both want, and both have discovered in each other. They are too young for them to say that they will die together, however, the two always repeat to each other that they are not to leave each other. It seems like Marie and Agent Four are stuck together, even when one is thought of as dead, like an instance in the past. Marie can deem herself as lucky easily, know how easy it is to fall into a trap of dating someone just for something else other than to find love. She fell into that trap once, with the one she was dating before Agent Four. He was popular, and never involved himself with any inking, opposite to Agent Four. However, he was manipulative, and easily angered, so much so that threats of harm became a norm, though he did not pull himself to act on his words. This previous Inkling was charming, and elusive, and used that to his advantage, and clocked in a year with Marie. However, nearing the end of their relationship, the sudden disappearance and squidnapping of Callie gave her a reason to act on her own behalf. Moreover, Agent Four entered her life, giving her an act to move on. With those two events, Marie becoming more independent and fighting on her accord was inevitable, and not before long, with Agent Four's help, the two ended. The break up occurred before Agent Four's entrance, and near Callie's disappearance, Marie breaking up with that Inkling was a leap of faith, that only was a seed for her next steps, ensuring that she does not fall in love with the same Inkling again. In short, Callie gave her an objective to act on her own without the previous Inkling, while Agent Four was the one who helped her through the process.

With Inkopolis Square disappearing and approaching Inkopolis Plaza, Marie began thinking of breaking away from her past, although she does not know whether it is a good idea to do so or not.

"You guys up for breakfast," Marie asks, trying to distract herself from her train of thought.

Agent Four gave a quick look, "is that what you were daydreaming about for the past few minutes?"

Callie giggled behind them, "Marie you really lose yourself sometimes..."

"Sorry about that," Marie responded, "I don't know what's going on with me."

"Oh no, nothing's wrong," Agent Four quickly shot down her response, "I find it adorable honestly. But, tell us when you're about to enter the train before hand, you know, so you don't get pulled out again."

"Eh, whatever, if it's not a problem, then why act on it," Marie asked, shrugging her shoulder with a smile.

The three began finding a place for breakfast, inviting the rest of the agents over. Marie didn't care about her daydreaming, however she entered a slight existential crisis, thinking why she is wasting her limited time in life, remembering moments in her life.

A few moments later, the group meet up at a small family-run restaurant they knew wouldn't attract them unwanted attraction. The family running the place knew that sometimes, the pop-stars and their body guards need a little privacy outside their home.

"Old Cuttle went over to talk to the old slug," Agent Three says, passing information at a discrete and obscure way, incase someone is listening in.

"What is he doing," Marie asks as she pulls the menu up to let herself read.

Agent Eight shrugged, "We don't know, maybe information on the one, but we don't know."

The group immediately translated what Agent Eight spoke out, as she is getting better at using obscure and unspecific pronouns. Pearl shakes her head, knowing that any wrong word from Cuttlefish could ruin the surprise.

The group was served on their large circular table, with Marina and Agent Eight still encountering new Inkling homestyle dishes. Agent Eight and Marina experienced the new breakfast plates together, while the Inklings explained what the dish was made of. Despite her collected and calm personality, Marina likes stuffing her face to the brim with food, with Agent Eight displaying a more student-like take on food, eating slowly to experience more and more. It had seemed like the slight differences between Inkling and Octoling were a good thing, it gave a gateway to exchange experiences and culture, brought out by the moments the two kinds of creatures shared. However, breakfast can only last so long, and with a moment, Marina and Pearl made their way back to the studio to fill in their afternoon news cut. With that, so did Agent Eight and Three leaving together, and Agent Four, Marie, and Callie leaving last. The payment and tip was left, and so the three made their way home.

"I do not want to predict the opposite," Agent Four started as he opened his door, waiting for the two girls to sit down before continuing, "I think we might actually last till night time."

Marie chuckled, "You think?"

"Yeah I'm on Marie's boat, I don't think we are active or up that much to constitute an entire day done without sleep," Callie responded.

"That sentence was unnecessarily complicated, but sure, I see," Agent Four responded as he buckled his belt.

And so then the three left, with a full system, a new objective, and a new drive. They are to find the wife of the lone Sea Angel, and bring her to him, with the intent of making both happy while they can...


	4. Love Us Together

Chapter Four: Love Us Together

As the light of the afternoon sun blew down the surfaces of Inkopolis, two Inklings share a moment together. That moment, being a simple joy, is that of a moment that is repeated every few sundowns and sunrises. Agent Four sits down on the living room floor in front of the couch, with his back leaning on the skirt of the tan couch. Marie is sitting down behind him, with her legs spread to surround Agent Four. Her hands were dancing on Agent Four's head, with his pair of tentacles in her hand.

"So how's my tentacles," Agent Four asks as he taps away at his phone.

"You've been taking care of them," Marie chuckled, as she held the two tentacles together tightly on one hand.

Marie continued to take her free right hand and maneuver her wrist to pull a ponytail from it. With a little effort, her fingers were finally holding the thin elastic-like loop. Her fingers maneuvered themselves to hook one part of the loop on the top tentacle, only to stretch the material not long after. She pushed the loop down his tentacles, giving Agent Four his signature ponytail.

"Did you make it look nice," Agent Four asks.

Marie chuckled at the question as she inspected her work, "I think so."

Agent Four stood up and turned around to face Marie, giving out a bright smile. Marie smiled back, despite her non-upbeat nature, she opened up her arms to invite Four into her reach. He gladly accepted and laid his head on her thighs, with Marie laying her arms on his body.

"It's been days," Agent Four whispered, shedding a slight bit.

Marie caressed Four, knowing where those words came from, "I understand. But don't worry, we'll find her, and we'll complete this thing."

"I know," Agent Four whispered back, "but still...we're looking for just one creature."

For days, no leads had been found. With all the nights that Agent Three spent exploring the Deepsea Metro, finding no one who knows an old Sea Angel. Oddly enough, the surface dwellers have received more information about the current mission. Callie and Agent Eight had been talking more and more to the slug to maybe find any new information about his wife, and what she looks like and where she might live. That same information was passed on to the most technologically skilled agent in the splatoon, Marina. Bringing back her abilities from her Octarian past, and her weird passion for making odd pieces of technologies she makes for her stages, she wrote up a software. This software boils down the statistics from data collected, rewrites them to a more manageable, and uses said information to bring the search area ever so smaller and smaller. With this, the splatoon constantly creates progress one way or another, searching in a small list of streets and neighborhoods.

"So a recap," Agent Four starts as he sits beside Marie as she listens carefully, "It's been a few days. We won't find her in the industrial part of Inkopolis, nor the downtown, that's for sure."

"We're probably going to find her in some suburb," Marie guessed as she crossed her legs and pulled her squidphone out as it vibrated, "-hold up, I got something from Three."

"Okay,"Agent Four responded as Marie accepted Agent Three's call.

"Hello, Three, you got something," Marie started, before murmuring was heard from the speaker of the phone, "you sure?"

Agent Four looked attentively at the phone, with Marie's well made and bundled tentacles in its classic look. The grey tentacles bounced as Marie shook her hand and head ever so slightly.

Marie swiftly turned her head and looked dead at Agent Four, "Four, we gotta go to the studio."

And like that, the pair made their way to the Off the Hook studio. With not a single heartbeat, the two essentially bolted their way to Inkopolis Square. Agent Four and Marie exited their vehicle from behind the studio. Marina greeted them as she opened the door for the pair, holding a laptop with her free hand.

"Welcome you two, we got something," Marina said obscurely.

"Fill us in there sis," Marie said as she entered the building with Agent Four following suit.

With Marina closing the door, she answered Marie's question, boiling it down to a simple idea, "Yeah, we got something major. We boiled it down to a few spots."

"Nice. See, you just need to be patient," Marie chuckled as she looked over her shoulder to see an excited Agent Four.

"Pearl was smart and looked at posts and talks of any angry creatures around Inkopolis," Marina continued to explain, "Sea Angels are susceptible to rage and anger when annoyed, which is not a thing that is usually seen in Inkopolis."

"Which is why I went looking for them," Pearl surprises the pair as she suddenly appears from the door that connects the back room and the public studio, "got on my laptop on phone, looked at every single place that Cephalopods or anyone would gather and talk about anything...and we got some pins. I found an inkling complaining about some angry slug walking around big ol' MakoMart."

"Pearl ain't stupid like some Cephalopods think," Marina finished.

Agent Four shrugged looking at Pearl, "I personally never thought she was."

"See, he still has reason to prefer me during splatfests," Pearl joked as she leaned the right side of her body to the wall with her arms crossed.

Agent Four quickly intervened, "Well one makes stages and one raps really good, so a debate can be made there."

"Anyways, you said MakoMart Pearl," Marie asks before she had to wait for another debate to end and sizzle down.

Pearl knocked herself back up and stood straight while pulling out her phone, "Here look."

The phone was shown to Agent Four and Marie as Pearl moved in closer. She showed a post of an Inkling taking a photo of a messy aisle while a large figure at the end. The picture was slightly blurry, signalling that the photo was taken in a rush. Pearl pointed at the figure to bring the attention to the figure, instead of anything but. The figure was round, and almost humanoid, with a larger upper body that hour glassed down to the legs, much like a Sea Angel would.

"We might have a sighting in our hands," Marina said as she pulled up her home-written program.

Marie and Four turned around to see Marina typing away, clicking here and there, till finally, she turned the laptop around for the two to see.

"So, since we just found out about this sighting, lets assume MakoMart as our point of interest," Marina started as she pointed at the center of the read circle, where a pin was shown, "let's assume that she doesn't have a car, since you need to pay for one, and thus, she needs a job, and therefore, we would've seen more public interaction by now."

The explanation and the reasoning was slightly convoluted to Marie and Agent Four at first, but they continued to listen to Marina's reasonable talking.

"So that means she has a limited range to shop around," Marina continued, " there is a nearby suburban, relatively cheap and quiet, which is perfect for someone with no currency coming all the time."

Agent Four grew confused "But then why would she buy a house, but not a car? And where would the cash be for that if she doesn't have a job?"

"Good thing you asked that, so I don't have to put effort into transitioning into that," Marina smiled as she placed down her laptop on the small table beside her, "Agent Three called you in here right?"

The pair nodded, promoting Marina to continue, "We have known about this post this morning, but we thought we couldn't use it to point anywhere. Until we learned something quite small but enormous to our cause. Agent Three was talking with the slug and learned something about his wife. I won't be telling too many details, but essentially, one time when they were together, a topic came out when the wife would always talk about watching Cephalopods go through the trials in the Deepsea Metro. She always talked about seeing the trials for the first time, and seeing some Cephalopod failing and failing over and over again on one trial with a bunch of cars on tracks and stuff."

"She built a fear of cars," Agent Four interrupted, guessing at the hypothesis.

Marina nodded, "You got it Four."

"But that still wouldn't explain how she would get the money to buy a house, nor do we know that she even has money to buy a house," Marie politely slid into the conversation.

Marina snapped her fingers and pointed at Marie, "Agent Three also caught some small finite detail during her conversation. Our Sea Angel was joking about the money flowing into his account fast. However, the detail was that he joked about his and his wife's account having to be reset, essentially."

"So, was that an insinuation that the two had jobs," Agent Four echoed confused, scratching his neatly tied up tentacles, only for Marie to swat the hands away to keep the pony tail clean.

"She probably can't work at the Deepsea Metro and live up here. However, it's not that hard to convert CQ Points into money, so it is likely that she is running off of funds that the two had before," Marina answered and confirmed Agent Four's assumptions, "One, who would open an account and not have a job. Two, the whole resetting the account thing, we can probably safely assume that he's talking about the funds in their account being taken away somehow. Three, and finally, they're old, they've been saving up their lives, so it's not too much of an assumption to think that the funds she's running on is a big one."

"Pretty smart," Agent Four nodded as he placed his hands on his hips and rested, "however, I hope all of these guesses are true, because it would really suck to think we are far, only to be knocked back to square one."

Pearl, the blunt one, states her opinion, "There's an undeniable chance that we could be wrong in any of these and we could just be hunting for a ghost. However, the pieces, when we look at it, fit, and we might be looking at an early completed mission."

"We are in an interesting position," Marie stated as she crosses her arms and thinks for a moment, "yes, this could be an early finish. However, if any one of these things are wrong, how are we going to try and pull ourselves to keep finding. We dang well know that we are all too lazy to restart something when we think we got too far."

"Well, whatever the case," Marina started as she closed down her laptop, "let's get this thing done, we don't have forever."

Pearl knocked her head back up from texting, to meet with the three's eyes, "I've texted Callie and Three and they are making their way to MakoMart."

"We'll meet them there then," Agent Four called, before he and Marie made their way to the door to leave.

"MakoMart," Marie tells herself as she enters the vehicle, "I haven't been in that place in a while."

"Well, if you ever how different creatures compensate for each other, go there to see it for yourself," Agent Four joked, before he reversed his way out of the alley.

Jumping a moment showed Agent Four and Marie ending up in front of MakoMart. They parked in besides the Squid Sister's car, the one that Marie and Callie shared. Marie led the Agent Four and herself to Inkopolis' warehouse-like stores. The size is best described as the size of the markets created by the different cultures mingling and mixing with each other, reaching into each other's markets and demands. It took a minute or so for the couple to finally enter MakoMart, as they parked far enough to shadow a setting sun. Entering the store, the couple was greeted with lines of carefully placed carts, and rows of cashiers, servicing mingling and talking groups of Inklings. Jellies run most of the cashiers, with mostly Inklings and other humanoid creatures shopping. A look onto the horizon of the building shows a Turf War occurring, with green and pink ink spraying and shooting up into the sky.

"Who's winning," Marie asks as she crosses her arms and look for Callie and Agent Three.

Four pulled his phone out and opened up something so essential for him, "Green is winning over like, 40p, so they're barely winning."

"It doesn't look like it, looks like pink is winning but whatever," Marie shrugged, as she continued to look, "I don't even know how Judd tracks that, but sure."

Then, a green Ink Storm shot up into the sky, catching the eyes of the shoppers, and even some of the cashiers. However, a few seconds went on, the cashiers snapped the Inklings out of the show and MakoMart continued to move.

"Okay, now...okay, now they're in the run for it, last minute and some Bloblobber just caught four pair of hands," Agent Four announced as Marie's eyes tracked the cloud as it moved forward.

"I think I don't want to look for Three and Callie anymore," Marie whispers to herself, before shaking herself out of the match, "no, I refuse. The Bloblobber is overpowered and I refuse to be amazed by that."

"I think you just don't know how to counter the Bloblobber Marie," Agent Four joked as he watched the cloud slowly evaporate into thin air.

Marie turned a half circle and faced Agent Four and crossed her arms, "You don't sound like a Squelcher Dualie player at all..."

"That's funny," Agent Four shrugged, "but at least I can counter a Bloblobber. Let me give you a tip, aim at them better."

"Oh wow, okay there smart one," Marie teased as she playfully pouted.

"Also, they're over there," Agent Four pointed over Marie's shoulder, where Agent Three and Callie was seen talking with the manager.

Marie turned around quickly enough, bringing her back to the objective. However, she was distracted by a pink Octoling rising up from the Turf War platform with a Booyah Bomb glowing and growing on her right hand.

"No," Agent Four called as he walked ahead of Marie and started to pull her behind her, "you are not watching that game."

"What if I booyah," Marie asked like a philosopher would, "would that build up the Booyah Bomb, even if I wasn't playing in the game?"

"Let's just get to the two and we'll answer that later," Agent Four declared, silently being pulled deeper into the question, wondering, if one can charge up a Booyah Bomb from outside the game.

Agent Four and Marie were a shout away from their targets, till Callie looked over her shoulder and met eyes with the couple. Her black tentacles swung and almost hit a young inkling, who she quickly apologized to by grabbing the inkling and begging for forgiveness.

"Something that Callie would do," Marie joked, being continuously pulled by Agent Four.

Agent Four looked over his left shoulder, looking at Marie, but still walking forward, "What part? The hitting someone else with her long tentacles, or begging for forgiveness for something controversially minor?"

"The hitting someone else with her tentacles part," Marie laughed, her eye sight messaging her that Callie is almost a jog away, "the whole apologizing for something minor is me."

Agent Four's mind flashed with Marie's half-smile showing in moments of embarrassment and oddity, reaffirming Marie's last statement. He shrugged and smiled at Marie for a quick glance before returning his concentration on where Callie and Three were.

Maneuvering through groups of laughing and talking Inkling, Agent Four and Marie finally reached comfortable talking distance with Callie and Agent Three.

"Heyo Four, what's up," Callie turns to the right to catch eyes with Agent Four.

Marie pouts slightly, "Hey, my favorite and one and only cousin, the one who I worked with to create a wonderful adventure through life, thank you for not asking me that question first."

"Sorry there Marie," Callie shrugged, "but Agent Four looks like he actually wants to talk to people."

Marie pulled her hands from Agent Four's grasps, and crossed her arms, "Hm!"

"I'm sorry Marie," Callie pleaded as she walked past Agent Four and ended up in front of Marie, "sorry."

"Nah, I just wanted to see you feel bad about me," Marie smiled and smirked.

Callie's dignity was slightly and marginally annihilated.

"So, Agent Four, how's things," Agent Three greeted as she turned her body to face Agent Four, and pointed a hand out to a manager here in MakoMart."

"Good," Agent Four nodded and smiled, "and good to meet you sir."

"Looking for a particular Sea Angel I see," the small Jellyfish started, "I'm starting to think that it is a Sea Angel, I've never seen someone like that."

Agent Four crossed his arms and stood in a more comfortable position, "How so?"

"Well, when that Inkling told me about that big thing walking in, I thought it would just be a normal mess up or spill, but I saw that aisle, amusing that she told me the truth about you knowing the same thing that she does, it was a mess, that place was moved," the Jellyfish nodded and sounded, "Also, I've seen so many creatures walk back and forth through this store. Even ones from the Deepsea, but I've never seen that specific creature before."

"Understandable," Agent Four responded as he took a moment to glance around his surroundings, "do any other mangers know about this."

"Is that a question," the Jellyfish responded, "I think everyone, their mother, and the other ones that they play Turf War with knows about this..."

"Anyways, now that you're here, what should we do," Agent Three asks, crossing her arms as she looks straight at Four.

"I need to look at it," Agent Four answers as he walks past the two and walk a path to the aisle, which was near the cashiers, only a dash away.

Callie laughed, but her instincts called her to turn and look over her shoulder, causing her to look at Agent Four, "Uh, Marie, Agent Four is headed towards the aisle, you want to come with him."

"Most certainly," Marie answers, walking past Callie, Agent Three and a manager.

Agent Four heard pattering behind him, so he turned around and saw Marie waddling towards him.

"Hey, you forgot about me," Marie called as she caught up with Agent Four, ending up walking beside him.

"I didn't, I just knew you'd come," Agent Four laughed as he smiled brightly and looked at Marie's obsessive tendencies, which contrasted her lazy uptakes.

As Agent Four and Marie approached the aisle, they see groups of Inklings taking a half a second to look at the parting shelves as they passed by. Some Inklings took pictures of it, most likely creating jokes after hand. Marie scratched her head as she saw some Inklings walk by, laugh, take a photo, mistakenly turning on the flash, and embarrassingly walking by the other groups.

"So um, I don't know," Agent Four announces as he sees groups clumping up, creating an obstacle to walk through.

"Well, then walk through," Marie responds as he kicks up her hood and tightens it.

"It's a good thing you put on your hoodie," Agent Four joked as Marie held onto his hand, quoting him to walk through the crowds while he pulls her through.

When Agent Four and Marie entered, they were met with another Jellyfish, who stopped them from entering a yellow-lined perimeter, surrounding the parting aisles, "Sir, Mam, we can't have you enter the area."

"I think Three told you about us, while she was talking with the manager," Agent Four asked as he looked at the Jellyfish.

The Jellyfish squished himself before realizing, "Oh sorry, hello Ma-Hello, please wear these hard hats, pair of safety glasses, and gloves."

Marie looked at the two sets curiously, which were pilled together neatly on a table, "What for?"

"Safety Ma'am," the Jellyfish answered, adjusting his reflective vest and hardhat, "a close look into the shelves, you can walk under some parts, and we don't know if something is sensitive and might launch a beam of steel, or even fall down."

"You just don't want us dead," Agent Four echoed as he looked at the shelves and aisle intensively from his distance, "understood."

The pair took the hard hats, gloves, and safety glasses. Marie leads Agent Four and walks over to the right shelf and inspects the shiny parts of some of the floor. The shiny parts may be evidence of footprint size and composition, which she hopes can confirm some thoughts of the big creature being a Sea Angel.

"So, Sea Angel feet are usually bigger than Inkling feet, but surprisingly not that much," Marie says as she looks at the footprints.

"So why are even here," Agent Four asks, wondering why he even came here.

"To make sure that the big blur was a Sea Angel," Marie explains, "well, not that we can't see the blur. But it's to make sure that the big shape was a Sea Angel. Conveniently enough, Pearl nor Marina can't find access to the security cameras above us, even with the managers help. Surprisingly enough, they didn't get their identities revealed."

"Um, what," Agent Four tries to catch up to the conversation.

"Also, the cameras, they can't find access because those are actually false, cameras, they don't work," Marie whispers, pulling Four closer to her face.

Agent Four grew a confused look, "Wait, what does that mean?"

"Those cameras, aren't cameras," Marie responded, "they are just dome glasses.."

"So you mean that if someone stole from this place, that they wouldn't be able to tell," Agent Four confusingly placed the pieces together.

"Even worse," Marie continued, pulling Agent Four even closer, "their cameras kind of suck. Anything beyond an aisle further, and the camera spits out something too blurry for investigation."

"So that is what Marina meant when she meant that we actually had to be here," Agent Four echoed, trying to close the case.

"Yup," Marie nodded, "it's a good thing Marina called us while we were in the car, because we would've found it useless to come."

"Well," Agent Four started, "she convinced you, then you convinced me."

"Either way, I think these footprints were Sea Angel ones," Marie said, pulling them back into the case.

Agent Four shook his head and looked at the footprints, "Oh, um...we're still here about that?"

Marie and Agent Four inspected the surroundings, checking the bends of the shelf to see if a Sea Angel could make them, and other slight things that seem like nothing to the naked eye. With both being agents responsible for the entire protection of Inkopolis, their hidden detective-like instincts glowed, but to only those who know that they are agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Surprisingly enough, Agent Three was charismatic enough to convince the managers before hand that Callie, Marie, Four, and herself, were from the media, which wasn't entirely a lie. Two out of the four were former news casters, and the two Cephalopods behind the laptops, are current actively in charge of Inkopolis Culture news, at least map updates and mode updates. So the group is not lying to that extent, just a few warping words are needed to ensure that what they are saying aren't blatant lies.

"Yup, they're Sea Angel footprints," Marie declares, inspecting the size of the footprint, comparing to hers.

Agent Four chuckled, "Wasn't that obvious before, haha."

Marie threw a laugh back as she stood up and faced Agent Four, who crouched in front of her across the footprint, "Well, I mean...we have to be sure!"

"Fair enough," Agent Four nodded, "but we need to find that Sea Angel before she gets too far."

"Alright then," Marie nodded, "I'll call in Three and Callie and tell them that we're start a search."

"I'll update Marina and Pearl, tell them the search is on," Agent Four declares as he stands up and stretches up.

Four removes his gloves and exits the yellow-lined zone, being closely followed by Marie. His hands made their way into his pocket, which still had his trusty squidphone on deck. He swiftly pulled it out, and with only a few taps, was on the line with Pearl, who always had her phone with her.

"Yo Four what's good," a high-pitched excited voice rang through the speaker hole.

"We're starting the search, tell Ms. Octo that," Four answers, waiting for a shot back from the pale, white tentacled Inkling.

With a few grumbling from the back, and murmuring, Pearl's voice returned from the distance, and greeted the patient Inkling on the other side, "We got it, good luck. We're still on the near suburban place, go find her!"

Then, Agent Four hung up, sliding his phone back into his pocket. Marie walked slightly faster, making herself lead, trying to reach Agent Three and Callie faster. Only a few moments of walking brought the pair back at Callie and Three, who were still with the manager.

"Callie, the it's on," Marie simply greeted, catching a small glance from the two, paired with a nod.

"Let's go then," Four simply commanded, starting up the real physical look out for a large top-heavy creature hanging around the suburban.

"So, where are we going to start," Marie asked, placing her attention back at Four.

Agent Four simply pulled his keys out and looked at Marie, "The nearest neighborhood, she can't be that far off."

And with only a breath, the pair were now inside their vehicle. Another breath brought them to a small minute drive to the nearest sets of houses, which is a neighborhood of humbleness, glamour is not the identity of these houses. Since houses are built for certain creatures, the two agents are looking for larger houses with larger doors, and maybe paired with any larger outdoor furniture. Agent Four squints his eyes, as the sun bears down at such an angle, that his eyes need some cover, but the vehicle cannot cover the sun.

"Found any larger-than-usual houses," Agent Four asks, trying to cover his eyes from the sun.

Marie shook her head, "Nope, which kind of sucks."

"Ha, larger-than-usual, I just realized, that description was very obscure," Four chuckled, trying to shuffle up the boredom.

"Like that one," Marie asks, pointing at a large house, with a figure with large shoulders and thin legs.

"Don't point, it's rude," Agent Four comments, focusing his eyes on the figure, "holy carp, that could be her."

Marie pressed a button near her hand, which lowered the glass between her and the walking figure, "Ma'am!"

The figure turned around and looked sternly at the pair, who looked like a mix of confusion and curiosity. Marie squinted her eyes, and saw a face of concern, one that would rather hide behind a wall, with no contact. Each of the two sides looked like a creature finding a human sitting in cave.

"Yes, young Inkling," the figure asked, trying not to embarrass itself.

Marie was the one to make contact with the potential target, but she took a moment to think of the perfect question to reel in the figure, "Ma'am, my name is Marie, I think someone is trying to find you."

"What do you mean," the figure quietly asked, walking towards the vehicle, finally less insecure and less solid.

"Someone, there's a Sea Angel looking for his husband," Marie said almost bluntly, echoing a personality that might come out of her smug smile, "are you looking for someone like that?"

"I simply do not believe you," the Sea Angel responded, turning around, before Agent Four placed the vehicle in parked, ensuring the car wont move.

He exited the vehicle and shouted at the Sea Angel, "Ma'am, he runs a convenient store outside downtown, he said that he used to have a wife that he married. He wanted to start a family with her and was not able to, and his wife left him in the Deepsea Metro as she left for the surface. Till this day, he has not told his name to us."

The Sea Angel stopped, and sighed, turning around slowly, facing reality, "I...I...I...I didn't leave him. I, please, I...you don't know what happened."

"I understand ma'am," Agent Four responded, attempting to reduce some aggression that could be made, "but he needs you back, please."

Marie pulled her squidphone out and quickly called Callie, who she thinks is more likely to be less busy out of her and Agent Three. The ringing was only for a few minutes, and to Marie's correct guess, Callie picked up swiftly.

"Hey Marie, what's up," a happy voice blasted through the speakers.

"Get our Sea Angel and drag him to where we are, just use my location, don't ask just go," Marie commanded, sparking up her idea.

"Alright then, whatever you say," Callie responded before hanging up.

Marie then turned her attention to the conversation that was ensuing beyond the door, with Four and the female Sea Angel trying to understand each other.

"You don't know me, you cepholapods want to stick your noses in everything don't you," the Sea Angel complained, making her way to the front door.

"Ma'am, please, I need to talk to you," Agent Four pleaded, "he needs to."

Then, the Sea Angel fell to her knees, with reverberations of whimpers, "Leave."

"Ma'am, please," Four pleaded again, only for his conscious to tell him to leave and return to the vehicle.

As soon as he opened the door and sat down on the driver's seat, Marie sighed as she rested her self on the seat, knowing that the female Sea Angel didn't comply. There was a moment of silence, just breathing, and the humming of the idle vehicle, tapping and shaking the seats attached to chassis.

"I called Callie, she's coming down with him right away," Marie sighed.

"How long," Agent Four asked, as he pulled the car back into drive and drove to park beside a sidewalk.

Marie looked at the digital clock on the vehicle, "With where we are right now, in a little while, a little wait, but not too much."

Agent Four nodded, "Alright then, at least we might get this done today. I would rather wait a moment, rather than wait more days."

As they watched the female Sea Angel slowly return to walking, and entering her home, a tone played in Four's head. He wishes that what he is doing is the right choice, that he isn't going against the grain of faith. His head is bringing real points, that maybe, finding this Sea Angel's wife was not the best event to happen. That the two might have been more healthier, if they were made to never meet each other anymore. Even if not, then there's a chance, that the Inklings and Octolings he made to go waste their time on, was not worth it, and might have been better spent finding Commander Tartar. His mind is regretting his decision to start up this project, but Four knows there is no turning back. After a short wait, a recognizable vehicle pulled up behind them, blocking the drive in garage. Callie swiftly came out, opened the back door, and out came the convenient store owner. Agent Four continued to watch through his mirror, only to be forced to watch through the window, as Callie and the Sea Angel crawled from the car, and to the front of the house. Three seemed to have stayed in the car, with only two doors opened.

"Marie, you can stay, but if this goes down, then I do not want to be here," Four admitted, sighing beforehand.

She simply shook her head, "Whatever the case may be, we have to watch, and hope that what we did was for the better."

Agent Four looked down, almost defeated, but Marie was right. He looked at the door as Callie and the slug slowly approached the home. She pressed the doorbell button before her and the Sea Angel were even prepared to see anyone at the other side of the door. Then, the door opened, to a surprised female Sea Angel's face. The face was a shocked, but excited one.

"I think we did well," Agent Four whispered to Marie, who nodded, as the two slugs grew closer, inspecting each other, and ending with a pair bright smiles.


	5. Finding Myself

Chapter Five: Finding Myself

A new day has begun, after the days that passed it, leading to the reunion of the two Sea Angels. Four had begun returning back to his old self, with his mind finding piece with the mind control that he was subdued to. He is amazed, as to how Three would heal and connect with herself so quickly, with him thinking that the mask he was given was better and more controlling than that given to Three.

"Four, you really need to take care of yourself," Marie whispered, slowly approaching behind him, becoming brighter and brighter from the window he is sitting in front of.

Four tilted his head down, "What do you mean?"

Marie simply shook her head slowly and sighed, "Like, for the past few days you've been still. You never want to go out, you never want to try and sleep properly-"

"I'm sorry," Four interrupted, "but...I don't know."

She knew what needs to be done, pull Four back to his old self, happy, explosive, yet quiet and controlled. Marie exhaled, knowing that Four is not returning to his more happier self today.

"There's something...going on in my head...like I'm disconnected in my own body, I guess," Four whispered, trying to reach out and find a reason for his sudden episodes of pure linearity.

"Don't mean to overreact there Four, but therapy, both physical and mental could help," Marie suggested.

He shook his head slowly, without a skip of a beat, "I don't think its that, like, I guess, there's a weird feeling. I don't know what it is, but I remember having access to something in my mind, but I just can't reach it again."

Marie shrugged, taking a stab at what the condition or problem could be, "Maybe memory loss?"

Four raised his eyebrows, glowing brightly, even his tentacles shot up, but he returned back to his slumped state, "No, no, not that, it was an ability, or a cache, if you will, but not memory. I remember everything and everything, but there's something I can't do."

"I'm not a professional," Marie simply added, trying to disconnect herself as a reliable source of information.

"I know," Four whispered.

Not before long, Four was pulled back into reality, still being blanketed by the sun. By that time, Marie had left the house to buy a product that she told him she would find, but just didn't remember what it was. Noon had passed, but the sun remained a constant reminder of the day. He had not changed his position, only his breathing had change a slight bit. Four felt disconnected, almost separated from the world, but he didn't know why. All he knew, was that he felt odd, floating in space, but still grounded within the confines of reality and physics. However, with the moment of returning to his surroundings, an idea clicked on him. His episodes of staring and losing thoughtful abilities is that from separation with his environment. A loss of ground, he felt like he could not connect himself with anything. These episodes were not present before the hypnotization, a thought that prompted him to return to his memories to find any moment within Tartar's hypnotization that could be worrisome.

His body felt cold, but his mind was fired up and warm, pulling his consciousness back to the moment of chasing after the glob on the telephone on wheels. The chase was short, no actual running, only a constant fight against the Octarians that Tartar had at his disposal.

Four looked up after knocking his head down exhausted, only to be met by a flying blue mask. His memories collected that Agent Eight seemed to have dodge the mask, but the mask kept flying towards him. The deep connections dug deep into his skin, finding links with his mind, taking over his conscious, bit by bit. His movements slowed to a crawl, but he knew how difficult his body would be to shut down and keep still. While his movements seemed to stopped, his body kept going.

He blinked, and his hands tingled as he felt the floor that he was sitting on. To him, he seemed like he teleported. Four stood up, thinking he had been still for too long, and needed some movement. Although he had lost track of time, his body thought of eating, so he went in the kitchen, passing and ignoring the dinning table and meeting with the square room. Callie was there, sitting on the counter, as she flung her thumb across her squidphone while sipping on a cold iced drink. She noticed the footsteps, and looked up with only her eyes, meeting with Four's.

"Is something wrong," Callie asked, noticeably worried.

Four simply nodded, but did not elude to what that 'wrong' was, as he did not know himself what it was.

Callie shook her head as she placed the dripping drink beside her, launching herself a step forward to stand up, "Marie told me about everything that's going on, you need to care about yourself for one moment."

He blinked, then shrugged, "There's too much to worry about, Callie, I don't...I don't have the time to get myself checked out."

"But you have time to sit in front of the window and regurgitate what already happened," Callie bluntly responded, which was out of the list of expected responses that Four had in mind, "you have time to go out with Marie, you have time to reach X, but don't have time to fix your real big problems?"

"It's not that big of a deal, Callie," Four simply responded, "like you said, I have to do all of that, if I had a bigger problem I probably won't be doing those things."

"That is the problem, that is exactly the problem," Callie responded, sighing beforehand, "you keep denying that the problem you have is destroying you. You just lose your mind, wonder off into space, then forget about it! Even you said like a moment ago, you feel disconnected to yourself, that there's something you can't do."

Agent Four shook his head slowly, "You're smart and all, but I think Marie probably has more insight on me than you..."

"I know that," Callie shot back, "but that doesn't change the fact that you need something."

"If it was a problem, Marie would've slammed me by now, she's capable of a lot of things," Four argued, sighing and placing his hands on his sides.

Callie almost heated up, "You need to repeat what you just said, because you don't know a few things yourself. Marie loves you, that's just a plain and simple fact-"

"What does that have to do with anything," he asked, interrupting.

"She doesn't want to hurt you. As much as Marie can put up a fight against a leader of an entire Octarian army, she probably won't fight it if it meant she would have a chance at hurting you. Look at when you fought Octavio, she stood out of it, focusing on me, not being on the field with you. When you were hypnotized, she had to hurt you, and what did she do? She got you off that thing, like she's your mother, and just swatted that blue thing or whatever away! Marie is too gentle on you Four," Callie grew less collected and blasted Four with whatever was on her mind.

Four took one cycle of air before trying to collect everything he had heard, "If there's actually something wrong with me, getting mad at me is probably not the best thing to do."

"It isn't," She launched back, "but that thing had broken you so much that you can't even accept that there's a problem!"

"Well, what's the problem then," Four spits out in an attempt to get Callie to stop nagging him.

Callie simply blinked, "I don't know, but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem..."

"Please Callie, just leave this to me," Four whispered, almost pleading.

Callie sighed, and walked out of the kitchen, passing Four with their shoulders tapping, "I'm sorry Four..."

As the footsteps grew ever so distant, Four sighed, letting out a vapour of air filled with guilt for himself and Callie. For a moment, he felt grounded, yet lifted from his current position. Four and his mess of a mind, collected together to blink and try and reset the moment. But alas, the words that were thrown out, and the tonne of regret sank into his heart. He wanted to be happy again, and not give a single worry about anything, thinking back to the moments of him simply playing a game of Turf War, with no celebrity to love, no world to save, and no problems to face up to.

"Eight, since you've been deep down your entire life, answer something simple for me," Three started, taking a sip from her white straw that stood from a black cup.

The Octoling swung her head to the left, meeting eyes with the one she grew closest to, "go ahead."

"How's life here," Three simply asked, pairing the question with an innocent smile.

Eight gave a solid smile and shrugged, "I think I've been spoiled here. I see the sun."

"Come on, something more interesting," Three tapped with her elbow, pairing the acts.

"No I'm serious Three, look-hear me out," Eight giggled as she stood up, placing her cup beside her foot before stretching her reaches into the air, "I was pulled out of Octarian control by some pop song that the world had heard except for me. You think that those same hypnotized zombies have ever seen the Sun? Probably not."

The long tentacles swung with the turning head, with Three having a new perspective on Octarians, "I get it."

"There's multiple ways of thinking about the information you just learned, and it'll still draw you to the same conclusion," Eight shrugged, placing a finger on her lips, "I guess two races that are in constant war with each other won't learn much about each other..."

"Hey...um, Three, could I ask a few questions," Eight asked, while standing up in front of Eight.

The tone change was immediate to Eight, who swiftly crossed her arms and knocked her head to the side, "Go ahead."

"How was being hypnotized anyways," Three asked, tilting her head as she ends.

Eight was slightly taken back, dropping all of her enthusiasm to focus on the question. However, her mind met with a wall, almost not knowing the purpose of the question.

"Say again," Eight responded, squinting her eyes, "can I ask why you're asking me this?"

"Well, I hope you could help with Four's situation," Three answered, almost bluntly.

"Still affected by that thing huh," Eight sighed, understanding the situation at hand, and the purpose.

Three nodded, slowly, but surely, "I hoped you would have something on it."

"He's good at hiding, isn't he," Eight whispered to herself, almost ignoring Three's comment, "and no, I don't think I have anything I haven't already told."

"Okay, sorry Eight," Three said, with a hint of embarrassment, retreating back to a less serious place in her conscious.

"It's funny don't you think," Eight continued, almost shaking and laughing at the same time, catching Three's particular attention span, "we don't even know our names, nor our parents, where we come from, or even what we want to do-"

Three's shoulders echoed her breathing, in with the rise, out with the lowering, Eight continued, "-yet we only worry about each other. We worry about those we don't know, a lot wont even know us. We never worry about ourselves."

"That's not true," Three quick to disagree, "you know how much I had to pour into you just for you to get used to Inkopolis."

"I used to spell it I-N-K-O-P-I-L-I-S not I-N-K-O-P-O-L-I-S," Eight chuckled, playing through her fingers, swaying her fingers at every letter she uttered out.

A small exchange of high pitched chuckles were thrown up into the air, almost as a banquet of flowers being thrown in a wedding. Three knew what Eight said was true. Eight's preconceived biases against and for Inkopolis was almost rather clogging up her eyes. The junk food Eight would see Inklings eat would cause her to almost say to Three that the things they were fed were no different from that from below the surface.

"And here it comes," Three spoke up, "you sure you got nothing else to help us out?"

Eight was taken back, almost shocked at Three's sudden seriousness, "you mean Four?"

"Yes, and I swear on my life we need to fix this guy up," Three spat out.

Eight scratched through the top of her tentacles, "I seriously don't know Three, I'm trying to remember, but c'mon, understand I didn't even know who I was when I met Cap'n"

Three grumbled.

"I just, heard the twin's songs and just all of a sudden my life was changed," Eight slowly let out as she shook her head.

Three's tentacles perked up, almost like spikes sticking out of her head, "Should we try that!?"

Eight's eyes lit up, "We need to, let's get down from here and get down to Four and Marie."

Four sat alone, annoyingly picking himself up from the ground and facing the day with a mildly distressed face. The door swung open as he heard a small whimper of an engine as the familiar faces of what he calls "elevens" popping out of the vehicle doors.

"Four get your dang music player right now and good pair of headphones," Three shouted as Eight stomped her way to the door, avoiding the small collections of pellets on the ground that decorated the green topsoil.

Eight arrived in front of Four, meeting him with a slight shove and a pair of slightly indulged pair of eyes, "You heard her."

Four was amused enough to let out a small chuckle before shaking his head, "Why? You guys made a song together or something."

Three reached her hand into the living room as Eight slowly stepped forward out of her way, "Just get it."

"We need you to listen to Callie and Marie's most popular song-" then Eight remembered she is prone to forgetting, "Uhh-What is it, uhh, Cannibal Intoxication? Can and Dory Intimidation? Convectional Incrimination? Coa-"

"Calamari Inkantation," Three laughed, "We need you to listen to Calamari Inkantation."

Four squeezed his face before raising his eyebrows, "Why exactly?"

"It's what got her to get out the hypnotization by good ol' I-can-only-pilot-one-machine-which-caused-my-entire-society's-humiliation," Three joked, "No seriously go get your phone and your best pair of headphones and lets go."

Four sighed and nodded before slowly walking to the kitchen where he thinks his phone is.

"Oh for the love of- let me get them," Eight nagged, walking past Four as she spotted his phone and the messy pile of wires known as earbuds.

Eight ran and tossed the earbuds to Three who ran up and caught them before it reached the ground. She turned on the phone and was met with a locked phone, so she took one of Four's fingers and squeezed it on the screen before she was met with a more open phone. Her little petite fingers glided through the messy screen before searching up the music player.

"Spicy or not spicy," Eight whispered to herself.

"Shouldn't matter," Three answered as she threw the earbuds up and down the air as the mess juggled through the space.

Eight was-without a thought-typing through the screen with her intended song. She then looked at Three who was essentially tying her fingers together with the earbuds.

"You are a popular Squelcher main, do you not have wireless ones," Eight's straight face met with Four's uncaring mess known as his face.

"I was going to, but I'll probably be judged for 'being too rich' or 'showing it off' or something like that," Four responded, as he turned his head to Three dealing with his earbuds.

Eight let out a small chuckle before responding, "That should be the least of your problems."

With a full minute of Three struggling, Eight just decided to pull out her pair of wireless earbuds and let Four borrow them. Four gladly accepted them, inserted them into her ears, and Eight turned up the volume before pressing play. From Four's perspective, she heard a series of muffled beats, building up hype into Four's mind, slowly but surely, known voices were finally heard.

_Ya weni marei mirekyarahire_

Ever so slowly, Four's eyes pondered, slowly growing.

_Juri yu mirekerason_

Three's hands held a ball of broken wire, but that was not a problem, as Four's face was now noticeably brighter and more elaborate.

_Kire hyari yoriherahe nyurahera_

"What a good time to be alive," Four thought to himself

_Nunnyura unera yurawera nyimerani_

Slowly but surely, Four's face grew rested. The music slowed, reaching its slowest as it peeked before the beat. Every syllable, a time to grow slow, before finally, Four's world grew black.

_Chop_

_per_

_i_

_po_

Then, darkness was only seen from his blind eyes, peaking noise was only heard from his years, and washing away was all he felt.

_Shu_

_ra_

_shu_

_ra_

_fe_

He was glad to be back, welcomed by his old self.

His only worries shrunk, into questions, as to how he will apologize to Marie.

* * *

_I have no excuses to be gone for so long, but it's nice to write again. I am sorry._


	6. Rise Up

Chapter Six: Rise Up

A voice rang through a dark open space, almost sounding inviting, but more demanding.

"Hey,"

"Four,"

"Wake up,"

Escaping the void, Four's identity connected with his consciousness and slowly, the black became viewable.

"You seem out of it, but not  _that_  much," said a comforting voice, that strung to an arm that encompassed the blurry vision Four was still itching to remove.

His ears finally grew focused, with the hum of the noise he heard reducing to a competent track of the cultural song of Inkopolis. The lights finally faded out into their respective sources, and the large tan and green set of lights grew focused to a worrisome face.

Marie simply shook her head, "If this song does this to hypnotized cephalopods, we need to figure out how this happens."

Four's arms stretched and hit different things. The left arm stopped at Marie's waist, while the right escaped into the open space, obvious that it is over the bed. Marie smiled before turning towards Four, bending her legs close to her and hugs it. Four blinked a few times, which his darkened vision melded with the room's bright cool white lights.

"Four, you need to stop trying to burn your eyes," Marie joked as she reached and closed his eyes.

He fought a tiny bit before finally Marie cupped her hand over his eyes, which was met with a sigh from her. Four simply smiled with the weight of confusion before returning his right arm to his chest. This reminded him, as he reached to the back of his head. Luckily, there doesn't seem to an obvious sign of his entire weight driving his head to the floor.

"Don't worry about it, Three caught you, surprising since she had her hands tied for some reason," Marie giggled, "which reminds me, say goodbye to those earbuds, we had to cut those."

"Really now," Four humorously responded, making these two words his first words after waking up from passing out.

"I heard Callie spilled on you," she laughed, "don't mind my sister though, please."

"We've lived under the same roof, she was about to explode anyways," Four simply bounced, before taking his right hand and slowly moved down Marie's hand.

Four blinked and his vision slowly crawled back to normal. Marie noticed and swiftly entered into a tighten lock with Four's hand. He blinked and his eyes finally became focused and his eyes stayed open.

"You know, she is quite right," Marie spat out, dragging a sigh beforehand, "I can't really give you my thoughts at face value. Let's just say I'm afraid that you're still being strung about by that crazy goo guy."

He simply laughed, "I feel like you need to have moments of you not holding anything back. You know, just you giving me your purest thoughts on whatever..."

However, deep down, he is nervous. Four is nervous knowing that he might've done something wrong, but he did not know. He relies so much on Marie to correct him, which is slightly flawed in his mind, but removes his own conformation bias. However, he became aware of its flaws after Callie cornered him in the kitchen.

"I should," Marie bit her lip, "but you've been good, don't worry."

"I've been told the opposite by you a few times," Four responded teasingly.

"Oh shush, close that mouth," Marie giggled.

"You know, you have weird abilities," Four whispered, moving around his neck till he found a more comfortable position.

"Four looks like he's about to tell a story," Marie slightly mocked.

"Listen, it's odd, and you need to actually think about it," He half chuckled swatting her lightly, "you, Marie of the Squid Sisters, can make a brainwashed Octoling have the desire to escape, or to even overthrow the government!"

Marie took a deep breath through the thin slits of her mouth, "Yeah, I see it."

"Mmm, yes, overthrowing the government, a common side activity that Octolings partake in...sure," Four chuckled, as he tried to sit up, being assisted by Marie.

A knock was heard, before Callie walked in with her mouth open about to talk.

"What's the point of knocking when you're just going to barge in?" Marie interrupted as she twisted herself to face her cousin.

Callie stopped at the doorway, squished her face, squinted her eyes, and gave a glare to her green counterpart. She opened her mouth and pointed at Marie, before giving up trying to give an argument and sighing.

"Listen, Eight is asking where her earbuds went," Callie spat out.

"Heh," Four chuckled, "I'm doing fine, thanks for asking."

"Didn't she take them as soon as Four passed out?" Marie answered.

"Four do you know where they went?" Callie asked, catching Four's eye.

"Gone," Four smiled, "Um...most likely, trash, rubbish, dunzo, outie..."

"Hey, question of the day, can we do something about this hypnotization captivation?" Marie asks, pointing at Four with her thumb as she squished her own cheeks, "We-or he- joked about Octolings overthrowing their government as a side job. We are revolutionaries, Callie."

"Greatest song of the millennium also was the song to be used to revolt against the tyranny of Docto Octavio and his mind controlled populous," Callie smirked.

"Okay I don't like this language," Four stated in a worrisome fashion, looking down at his legs that were covered in a thin blanket, fiddling with his crossed arms.

"I mean, thats how we met Eight, well, gramps at least," Marie stated, resting her chin on her thumb, which rested on her raised knee.

Callie laughed, although not too loud to constitute a warning from her more controlled cousin, but not quiet enough not to be heard by the two, "Haha, this is actually getting funny, but like, you guys aren't serious about this...right?"

They were serious about this, this momentous joke, a lousy one at best, may actually hold merit to constitute action by a vigilante team like them. It took a moment, perhaps a little too long, for Callie to finally realize that the tone, voice, and language all pointed to a serious plan, half baked, but a plan nonetheless. She simply sucked on her lips, licked them, before finally responding a thoughtless response, "Seriously...?"

Marie scratched her head, a more messier version of it, as gravity took a toll on its shape, "I mean..."

"I know it sounds outlandish, but hear us out," Four said, "this is a permanent solution, rather than a solution that we constantly have to run back and forth on."

"I see his point Callie," Marie clapped, "we need a permanent solution on this, listen, to both of us for a minute. Goo Guy is out and about, Octavio is probably doing another start up on his next army, we need Octolings out of there."

"I'm no civil employee," Callie responded, "but it will not work if we just got a bunch of Octolings to rise up and all that, rushing over to Inkopolis."

Four snapped his head at Callie, "Does that mean that you will agree to this?"

"Not like it'd stop you if I disagreed," Callie laughed, "besides, we haven't-Marie and I-haven't been able to make songs because of this mess. I would love to return to this old life you know. Filling this place with new songs."

Callie spoke in a more melodic way, looking at the house, she only thought that there's more room for record awards.

"Shall we call in the rest of the peeps," Callie asked, "we're going to need everyone's opinion on this."

Four sat up, twisted himself to the right, hanging his feet over the bed before finally standing up to some lights stretches. Marie simply stands up and waits for Four's answer.

"Yes, let's grab everyone," Four simply smirked.

* * *

It feels unsettling finally having the drive to write and complete this...would an apology even be enough? P.S. I have another chapter done and ready to be uploaded let's get this done!


	7. Against the Split

Chapter Seven: Against the Split

"No, no, no," Eight argued, boosting herself up from her seat using her hands that were firmly planted on the table, "Pearl you are not causing anarchy!"

The dinner table became a battlefield.

"I'm just saying," Pearl sluggishly stated, "a flood of Octolings coming from the woodworks is probably not going to work with our city, nor this entire country."

"She's got a point, Eight," Callie nodded, "we can't just bring in tons of Octolings like that in one swipe, you darn well know that this place is not ready for that."

"Yes we all agree on that, but the way we do this, that is what we are not agreeing on," Cuttlefish said, wiping his brow before crossing his arms.

Three's hand favoured the back of her head before sighing, "Anarchy on a place we can't control is not the best option, anarchy just doesn't work anywhere."

"Control is the thing we are looking for, we can slow down the amount of Octolings we are freeing or we can speed it up, we can make Calamari Inkantation the best thing known to their kind or make it seem like it doesn't exist," Marina barged in, standing up as she spoke her first few words.

Four clapped his hands together, "Sorry Marina, but controlling what people think doesn't sound like a good deal."

"Nor does taking down the only thing underground Octolings know of," Marie countered.

"I get the control party more than the anarchy stuff," Cuttlefish admitted, "you kids can waddle your mouths off, I'm taking a nap, Marie and Callie can hopefully fill in the blanks for me."

"I don't agree with Callie's plan," Marie sighed.

"It's not anarchy Marie, it's letting Octolings choose and decide," Four quietly, almost sombrely, replied, squeezing his cheeks and straightening his mouth, "at least we would be giving freedom to choose being freed."

"Let me ask you this, Four," Marina coughed, "if you take down the only system, the only hope, that the underground Octolings have, would they believe you?"

"Take it from us Four," Eight jumped in, "I didn't immediately think to get out of Octavio's control when Three first took him down for the first time. I was there, and so were thousands of other Octolings, the song, the overtaking, might not work when spread out. Controlled streams of the song would work better."

"And then what's next, after every other Octoling finds out that everything they knew was a lie, what would happen then," Callie defended Four, "to fight, right? To fight back the lies spoonfed to them. Tell me Eight, Pearl, why are you in this brigade?"

Pearl and Eight simply grunted, taken back, only for Marie to jump in again, "Callie, I think that's enough."

"I'm sorry you two," Four apologized beforehand before looking at a disappointed stern Marie looking back at him, silently begging him not to continue, "I think we should let your brothers and sisters decide their own fate."

"Four, Callie, and I think its best we let them decide," Pearl stood up, taking a slow deep breath before continuing, "I-we think it is best if we just hack into their systems-with how they operate their whatevers it'll probs be easy- play that song for hours on end before cutting it off, and letting whatever happens happen."

"Marie, Eight, Three, and I think controlling the current powers underground is a more safer and more controllable way to get these Octolings out of the underground," Marina responded, sternly, straightforwardly, and precisely.

"We agree on what should happen," Four sternly said, "let's decide some other time."

Four looked at Marie, she looked more disappointed, but was not angry. She took Three's trembling shoulders and turned her away from Four, guiding her to the open front door. Marie simply shared a half smile towards Four before closing the door behind her, being the last one to leave.

"I should probably head back too," Pearl quietly said, "we can all admit this whole anarchy-freedom-politcal-talk is making us all uncomfortable. Geez, I grew up wanting to be a singer not the face of the next war... I need to talk to Marina..."

Pearl's face dropped, her bombastic persona faded away, her eyes dropped a tear before she continued, "I hope I didn't hurt her, nor anyone, but most importantly her. I hope she still likes me. I hope I didn't go too far..."

"Take care, please, Pearl," Callie waved, seeing Pearl exit the house.

Four gulped, the noise cutting through the silence like a hot knife through butter, catching Callie's attention. She saw a shocked, nervous, and frightened Four. Callie echoed his concerns, "Worried about her, Four?"

"Us," Four responded, "is it really worth it losing someone to believe in something I truly think is truthful."

Callie slowly walked towards him, clasping her hand on his cheek, "That's for you to decide, you are smart nugget, despite what I sometimes say."

Four looked at her face. It was a face of true concern, but one of care. He knows she doesn't or didn't want to see him this way. He shook his face a little, shaking off some of the frown and the nervousness.

"There we go," Callie smiled, keeping her hand on his cheek, "don't lose faith in yourself, or in her."

She smiled, taking her other hand and mirroring her first hand before whipping her hands back down to herself.

"I do admit though, Four," Callie said, turning around and walking away towards the stairs, "you make me question myself and what I want sometimes."

She then made her way up the stairs, leaving Four alone with a passed-out Cuttlefish.

For days on end, the arguments would come back and forth, here and there, in private and in public. No other Inkling or Octoling knew about the context, all were just concerned about getting an autograph and a picture with an occasional few seconds to answer some questions. No one was winning the argument, however, Cuttlefish joined Marina's side not long after the spurts started. Soon, the debate grew uncontrollable. Soon, the phones of everyone involved lit up in flames.

_Pearl: Uhh, we got a situation! CODE RED CODE RED CODE RED!  
_

_Marie: Did someone get injured?_

_Callie: Better be Four, he still owes me an apology!_

_Pearl: No no no guys please, be serious!_

_Marina: Whatever I'll explain it. Essentially, we were talking debating about the whole plan thing. Well, we had our microphones on during a live broadcast. A ton of Cephalopods just heard us scream about whether controlling a society is better than a society with no rules._

_Four: So I wasn't just daydreaming about that...I actually heard you guys pull this._

_Pearl: AND YOU DIDNT TELL US!?_

_Four: You were expecting me to care?_

_Marie: You were expecting him to care.._

_Marina: Yeah, we only found out after Eight and Three told us about hearing the replay. So like, almost half a day later we finily found out._

_Marina: *finally_

_Three: I don't know which one is more stuppider..._

_Eight: The one that used the word "stuppider"_

_Three: K shut up_

_Marie: Why not just say it is for your next Splatfest?_

_Pearl: Xcuse us miss? What?_

_Marie: I mean, you haven't announced your next Splatfest, why not just replace your planned one with this one?_

_Marina: WAIT WAIT_

_Marina: You are telling me that we change our Pearl versus Marina Splatfest with what...?  
_

_Pearl: Chaos versus order duh_

_Marie: I was going to type that but bingo_

_Eight: That's not a bad idea actually_

_Pearl: Wouldve loved seeing all the posts about it though Eight have I shown you all the posts when Marie and Callie did theirs_

_Eight: Yeah I was thinking the exact same thinggg_

_Marie: Anyways, I'm thinking this is your best bet, just call it an ARG for your new Splatfest_

_Three: Whats arg_

_Eight: Ammonium rectangular gangster_

_Pearl: Yeah, we should do that, augmented reality games are probably our least risk route. Won't damage our PR and image, and will even get people more excited._

_Callie: Wow Pearly just typed a message that has all the correct punctuation..._

_Pearl: SHUDIT_

_Callie: XD ;P_

_Four: I know it sounds dangerous, but after the Splatfest, whichever side wins, that side would be able to take the their plan into motion_

_Marie: Honestly not a bad idea_

_Four: Thanks BB 3_

_Marina: Pearl, you up for that_

_Pearl: Yeah im down only because youre gonna lose_

_Three: Okay okay calm down miss forehead_

_Eight:You think she cant rank up any higher than an A because her forehead is such a big target or because she uses dualies and doesnt know when not to superjump_

_Pearl: shut up you dont even hava name_

The banter continued into the night, however, everyone was aware of the unsettling atmosphere around the conversation. Whoever wins the Splatfest, gets to go through with the plan that they see fit. The population, unknowingly, will get to decide how the Octolings will be saved.

* * *

 

_I had published these to my other account, I neglected AO3 and forgot about posting these new chapters here. I am so sorry about this mess, hope the flood of new chapters make up for it._


	8. Chaos - Stand on the Ashes

Chaos: Stand on the Ashes

Pearl shot her arms up high. Chaos won. She gets to decide the fate of an entire species. The room was filled with an invisible aura of uncertainty, both Pearl and Marina felt it, and so did the ones watching the announcement of the winner. Four and Marie sat on their couch, listening. Callie was cruising around, preparing for any side to win. Three and Eight stood in the square watching the large screen with every other cephalopod. They worried about the amount of snails they would receive, Three and Eight were worrying about the place beneath their feet.

"Baby," Four whispered, "I know you're not into this, how we are going to do things."

"No, it's okay," Marie responded, leaning her head on his left shoulder.

Four grabbed the remote beside him and turned off the television. Marie turned her body, one of her tentacle still hanging onto her shoulder. She looked at him, he looked at her. Marie caressed Four's face, slowly teasing her fingers on his face, inspecting every centimetre of his face. Her image reflected on his eyes.

"Honey, Four," Marie whispered, "we don't need to agree on everything."

"Yeah but like, this is kind of bigger than us, is it not?" he responded, showing his more light-hearted side.

"Yeah- but- um- shut it," Marie pouted, carefully slapping his face with the same hand she caressed him with, "look, as long as we don't splat each other over it, its fine."

"You're cute," Four giggled under his breath, taking his finger and sliding it on her head.

Marie looked up, catching his finger and thumb and leaning her chin on them, "That's a good thing yes?"

"Haha," Four laughed quietly, "yes, yes, yes it's a good thing Marie."

She smiled.

"I've told you so many times," he smiled, "but I'll continue to tell you till you hate me for it."

"You know what I want to be told forever," Marie responded, softening her face, "I love you."

Four drew closer, "I love you too."

The two exchanged their passion, a vow to not split through disagreement. They agreed to be together for all times, even when time ceases to exist. A kiss shared was a repeat of all they had built and promised together, but it is yet to be tested.

The broadcast ended, and the cameras stopped filming, but the tension was still there. Marina manually disabled both her and Pearl's microphones just incase. It was a lucky shift that no producers or directors came for the day, and that they were given permission to broadcast on Marina's control.

Pearl sighed, "Look, we are still getting what we both want right? We can disagree on how, but, that's been dealt with. So, let's just look forward and get this done, shall we, Mina?"

"The problem is that I am not confident that we will get what we want, and that is because of your plan, Pearla..." Marina earnestly responded, not looking back at Pearl's begging eyes.

"Marina, please look at me," Pearl whispered.

Marina simply stood up and left. Pearl knew that a few Inkling or two would be watching through the glass, so she kept her spot, and pretended like nothing happened, like Marina left for some normal reason. Reality says that Marina was tearing. Her concern for her kind, she will be taking part in a mission that she doesn't feel safe in doing. There is a heavy weight on her, she must save her kind, yet she will not do it on her accord. She feels like she is being told to run a thin long wooden board across two mountains. Marina is eating away at herself, she is not ready for the guilt if the plan-the plan she absolutely despises-does not work. However, she had a repeating speaker in her mind, telling her that Pearl is not dumb, that her plan has weight, merit, and thought put into it. Yet she knows there are flaws in Pearl's plan, in her thought process, and that was all she could see.

Only a few hours later, Three would be hearing knocks at her door. She would open it to see a less-than-bright Marina, her tentacles slouching and less melodic.

"Hey Three, sorry for the intrusion," Marina apologized, weirdly, she saw a few articles of clothes scattered across the floor, and that Three was wearing oddly less than usual, which meant-

"Oh, hi Marina," Eight brightly shouted from the distance, acquiring a line of sight from the living room to the door.

"I told you she was gonna come in fifteen, you sound surprised," Three laughed as Marina walked into her house, taking off her shoes.

As Marina straightened her back, the door behind her closed as Three started walking straight to the living room. Three swiftly snatched the sweater and socks scattered around and about the path from the front door to the living room. She looked back at Marina, smiling brightly, hiding a tinge of embarrassment.

"Would you like anything Mala?" Eight politely asked as Marina took position on one of the couches.

"Um, you two have just some green tea or something like that?" Marina responded, trying not to sound rude but also avoiding saying no.

Eight headed straight for the kitchen, "A cup of green it is."

Three and Eight passed by, smiling at each other, before Three slowly approached beside Marina.

"Look, I'm not happy either, but, we just gotta work with it, and make the best out of it," Three cut straight to the point, "there's no point whining and nagging about it, especially when it's basically final."

"I know," Marina whispered, "you're a proponent on that saying aren't you?"

"Haha, yes, but I got reasons to believe in such thinking processes," Three smiled.

Marina shook her head, a chuckle escaping from her mouth, "Three is trying to sound smart I see."

"Hear," Three quickly corrected, but yeah, the world is going whether we like it or not."

Marina sighed, tightened her fingers, only to be interrupted by the door opening.

"I'm here, sorry about being late," Marie called as she took off her shoes.

Eight came out of the kitchen with a serving plater with four cups on it, smiling at Four as she came out, "Oh no worries, Marina just got here anyways."

Three forced herself up, leaning on her arm, looking through her shoulder, "Marie, sorry for interrupting your cuddle-fest."

Marie grew ruby, "Okay okay, let's just get into whatever we are about to talk about..."

"The plan," Eight said, placing the cups on the coffee table.

The group finally all sat down around the table, Marie and Marina facing each other, and Three and Eight sitting beside each other flanking the two. Marina was the first to grab her cup, she had to walk to Three's new condo, she was slightly thirsty. Marie was second, she was not a big fan of green tea, she would rather drink milk tea, there was no way to get milk tea at the moment. Three and Eight simultaneously grabbed their drinks.

"Ladies, we have a situation with this," Marina started.

"We know, it's not going to work," Eight responded, with a slight tinge of anger.

Marie stopped sipping to smile, "I still can't get used to Eight being this vocal."

"Things change," Three smiled.

"And we need things to change, that's why we called you two here," Eight responding, pulling the conversation back, although she was slightly red.

"Pearlie's plan is not going to work, it's too uncertain, it's too reliant on the fact that previously brainwashed Octolings will know how to organize, and it's too reliant on the Octolings surviving, that's if Goo Guy doesn't jump in soon after or during the operation," Marina laid out, not resisting calling Pearl by her nickname, her speech was bittersweet.

Marie nodded, "We can't control it, we can't control anything about this."

"Marina pointed something out too, Telephone Guy is still out and about, I feel like he's going take advantage of the situation," Three pointed out, "he would be stupid not to."

"Who knows what he might do," Marina nodded, "alright, ladies, I have a plan."

"Already?" Eight's eyes sprung up, like everyone else' "Whatever, let's hear it then!"

Callie pulled Sheldon into the back room, closing shop for a moment.

"I hope you got this in the bag Sheldon," Callie smiled, "you know you're fuelling a revolution right?"

"Haha, I never thought politics would enter a pop-star's mind, it's kind of unsettling, I'm not going to lie," Sheldon laughed, as he wheeled out a large wooden box.

As the red lifter was removed from the bottom of the box, he simply unlocked the box from the top and swung the halves. Inside was a set of highly upgraded and modified weapons the group would use to infiltrate the Octavian world.

"I got some friends to help out to, these are not tournament legal obviously, so I better not see Four using these things to get up to S+ 10," Sheldon joked.

"You know he's not like that," Callie responded scratching the back of her head, "thank you again, Sheldon."

"I want Octolings out of the brainwash too," Sheldon nodded, "just make sure no one finds out about this."

"About what," Callie said back.

"Thank you, Callie," Sheldon smiled.

Callie smiled and giggled, "No Sheldon, thank you!"

Pearl had been busy making copies of Calamari Inkantation on almost all forms of mobile file transferring hardware. Since technology is not known in the underground world, all forms, including just pointing a speaker at a microphone, must be considered. Pearl has ended up making thirteen vessels for one song.

"Um...you gonna add the Spicy version?" Four joked from Pearl's phone.

Pearl laughed, "Nah, just the OG version, 'cus that's where it's at."

"Aww really, that sucks. To be fair, we don't know if that version would work," his voice slowly trailing off.

Callie entered the room and threw her hands up, "Pearl we got our equipment!"

"Just in time," Pearl smiled, "hey Four, you heard that?"

"Yup, loud and clear, a bit annoying though," Four joked.

"Shud," Callie giggled back, however, a pile of different sticks and rods on the table in front of her, "also, what's with the pile of stuff Pearl."

"How we are going to spread the song," Pearl squished her face, a slight annoyance was showing, "our mixtape is going underground!"

"I prefer the remake," Callie responded plainly.

A slam was heard from Pearl's phone, "See Pearl! I told you we should've put that version in too!"

"You didn't even tell me to do anything," Pearl responded, "besides, I am not doing more of this even if my life was on the line."

"Rinse and repeat, nothing too hard," Four responded.

"I hope you're joking," Pearl smacked back.

A laugh was heard from the phone, "I am kidding, Pearl."

"Well then, it happens in a few days," Callie sighed, "I hope it works."

"It will," Pearl responded, then looking at Callie, "it has to."

Four spun a pen through his fingers listening through the phone at his feet, which was on a table. He was thinking about Marie, what might happen between them. He could only hoped that nothing will happen, that it is just a disagreement in the workplace. He wished that the disagreement wasn't rooted. He wished that their inkling fraternization was just the reason why he or she might feel unsettled. Yet he couldn't be sure.

"Marie," he thought to him self, looking at a framed photo at the wall in front of them.

He smiled, then frowned, slowly. The noise from his phone was swaying from one ear to another.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.


	9. Order - Sweeping of the Ashes

Order: Sweeping of the Ashes

"If you participated in the Splatfest, your prizes are waiting in the Square." Marina instinctively ended the Splatfest result announcement.

Last splatfest, but the maps would still be announced. Pearl gulped before Marina and her did her trademarked, "Don't get cooked... Stay off the hook!"

As the cameras turned off, she sent her back to the back of the seat. Marina kept her composure, turning off everything that could collect any information from Pearl or her.

"So, it's my plan," Marina broke the silence, "Pearlie."

"Yeah yeah," Pearl responded, sighing, "I know..."

"It's best if we get to it," Marina whispered, walking over to Pearl.

Marie circled her finger around and through Four's tentacles on his head. She titled her head, knocked her shoulder up and leaned on it, and bit her lip, a killer girlfriend move. Four simply smirked and caressed her face, causing her to reddened up and smile.

"You're into this mood because your side won..." Four whispered.

Marie's face brightened, "You got that right! Is there a problem with that?"

Four shook his head with a smile, "Ha, no no, not at all, Baby."

She took her other hand, and started to squish Four's face. Her weight was finally leaning on his face, wish made the effect even stronger. Four plumped up his lips to add to the humorous look.

"Ohh look at how handsome you are," Marie lovingly teased, "look at this handsome agent. Look, cute looking cheeks and plumply looking lips. I can imagine myself kissing it all day."

"Th-n do it," Four dared, happily getting ready for a storm of kisses.

"Hmm, should I?" Marie whispered teasingly to herself and Four.

Four's eyes squinted in pretend disappointment. Marie giggled before leaning in to kiss him on his squished cheeks, keeping her hands pressured on his face, each kiss brightening Four's eyes. After the fourth kiss she released the pressure and stared into his eyes. He responded by guiding her to his lap, making her straddle him. Four's arms wrapped around her body, the stare not breaking for a millisecond.

"You're beautiful," Four smiled.

"You're handsome," Marie responded.

"I know you're disappointed in what happened," she continued, caressing his face, slowly crawling up to play with his tentacles.

"I'll be honest, I am, but, you're not going to be at the receiving end of it," Four answered, sternly with a taste of the loving moment they are partaking, "we don't need to see eye to eye on everything, Marie."

Marie showed her worrisome concerns, looking and playing through his tentacles, Four saw through her walls, "As long as we don't splat each other."

She finally continued back to looking at him.

"I love you, Four," Marie smiled, leaning and drawing closer.

"I love you too, Marie," Four responded, parting his lips.

Their lips embarrassed each other, tastes and tinges mixing, exploring each other. It was a soft embrace of love, with Four and Marie slowly tightening their grips onto each other, not wanting to let go. They entered a moment of bliss, as they become one. It was a vow, to not hurt each other, to tightening in moments when they pull away from each other. A kiss shared was a repeat of all they had built and promised together, but it is yet to be tested.

"Pearl, please talk to me," Marina softly begged.

She did not budge, she was still, "I'm sorry Marina, it breaks my heart a little bit."

"I know, I know, but we have to get through with it," Marina begging continued.

Marina squatted, and searched for Pearl's hand on her stomach. Her hand slowly approached Pearl's fist and surrounded it with her translucent vibrant fingers. Pearl's head turned to Marina's hand and arm, a sign of walls crashing down and her opening up slowly.

"I know, I get it Pearly," Marina softly continued, "but, if it makes you feel better, we both get what we want one way or another. It's just, my route just turned out to be chosen by our phone's GPS."

Pearl chuckled, and a smile slowly grew, "Hm, was it really like that?"

"We are still going to end up to your favourite park," Marina answered, "geez what is it called again? Um...was it Maloo-Haloo World? Naloo-"

"Waloo World," Pearl blurted, "I thought you would remember Reena."

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, "but it's like we are driving to Waloo World, it's just we are taking a different road."

"Except it's a road that I don't want to drive on because it might get us loss, it's bumpy, and it's dangerous," Pearl argued.

Marina sighed, caressing Pearl's loosened hand before slowly pulling away, "I'm sorry I can't really get you to feel better, I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Pearl shook her head, but did not look at Marina, "Don't worry, it's just me being stubborn..."

Marina softly tugged at Pearl's ear before giggling, "Oh well, I'm used to it, nothing I can't handle."

As she walked over to the door, Pearl's head clicked to where she was, watching as Marina open the door and exit without looking away. Pearl sighed, grabbing her phone, and contacting Callie and Four.

 _Pearl: Hey peeps can you please pop over to the studio real quick_ _.._

_Callie: Sure im skaddadling over there!_

Four did not read or answer for a while.

Callie busted into the studio only moments later, unsuspectingly, startling Pearl's space staring. She was supposed to pick up the specialized equipment ordered by the agents, but Marina insisted on Three and Eight picking them up themselves. Marina said that it's best if they let Three and Eight get to know who Sheldon really is.

"Howdy there Pearl," Callie called, as she closed the door behind her.

Pearl's eyes widened before turning to her right to see Callie smiling at her, as she walked towards her, "Yo!"

"Has Four answered yet?" Callie called as she sat on the couch next to her.

Pearl pulled her phone out, spun it on her finger, before unlocking it and checking her messages, "No, he has seen it though."

The long-tentacled Inkling giggled, "He's probably busy with you-know-who."

Pearl smiled and chuckled slightly, "Busy busy guy."

"I heard you used to like him," Pearl teased, as she looked over her shoulder to see Callie's face.

"Um.." Callie responded, nervous and defensive, "where did you hear that from?"

"Well you know," Pearl laughed, catching Callie off guard, "but nah, I just guessed, and my guess is correct!"

She sighed, "Okay okay, just don't tell anyone else."

"Don't tell anyone else what," Four asked, shocking and scaring the two Inklings.

"Nothing," Callie quickly answered.

"That you used to like me, I won't," Four laughed, walking towards the two.

"Okay okay, it was just like a schoolyard crush, okay, jeez," Callie defended herself.

Four pulled a stool from between Callie and Pearl, and placed it underneath him and sat on it. He hooked his shoes onto the small ring that is welded on the inside of the legs. The enlightened agent took a deep breath, pumping his chest out slightly, before taking a large breath out, catching the two's attention.

"SO, chief, what's up?" Four looked at Pearl as she sat up properly to face him.

She clicked her tongue, "What's up with you, why are you so happy, and I know its not that she used to like you?"

Four simply smiled, Pearl remembered that he did not respond or read for a long time, "Oh, OH, OHH."

"OH, NO!" Four responded quickly waving his hands in front of her, "just lovy-dovy couple business Pearl!"

"Stop flexing about your oddly stable and happy relationship, Four," Callie joked, leaning her chin on her palm, tapping away at her face.

Four did shoulder circles before breathing out again, "Well, Callie. At least I have someone that loves me that much."

"Pass me the fire extinguisher, flamethrower versus flamethrower ring fight!" Pearl announced proudly as she rang her voice through the room with her cupped hands.

"No fighting today, we really gotta talk about what you yanked us here for," Callie shot down Pearl's joke.

She cleared her throat, "Sorry, anyways, Team Order won the last Splatfest. This means, we are not following our plan to get these eight-tentacled brothers and sisters outa the depths. Not too bad right? Wrong! Because, we, this team, cannot guarantee that we can get those peeps out of there!"

"Agreed," the other two nodded their heads.

"So! I propose, not in that way, that we go ahead with our plan either way!" Pearl shot her arm and head up.

Four and Callie's eyes widened, they sighed as pulled back a little, "So, you are asking us to be cheaters to something we agree to?"

"No no no, Four, it's not like that!" Pearl objected.

"It is totally like that," Callie agreed, "so let's do it!"

"Guys it's not chea- wait, wait, repeat what you said," Pearl stopped herself as she locked her eyes on Callie.

Callie titled her head in confusion, "It is tota-"

"NO!" Pearl interrupted, "The end! The last part!"

"So let's do it?" Callie repeated herself in confusion.

Her eyes widened, as she slammed her palms onto her knees, "You're agreeing, Callie!?"

"Yes," Callie answered with somewhat less confusion.

Four wiped his brow, "You two are just going to do this?"

"Yes," Callie repeated.

He sighed, "I'm in."

"Babingo-balingo-bazingo!" Pearl celebrated, "I was expecting you to disagree, walk out, and leave, heck, even tell the others about it."

"Heh." Four chuckled as he nodded, "You think I even have the power to disagree."

"You could," Callie quietly responded.

Four shook his head, "I don't want to be called a traitor or something like that, besides, even though your reasoning is a bit shaky and shallow, I don't want to regret the mission if it fails, because it was on us to stop them. If we fail, we have fail on our accords. Yes, we can win on their plans, but we can also win on our plans. We are quite smart."

"I disagree with the last part," Pearl laughed, "Okay, we ready?"

"We're ready," the two synced.

"Okay, we'll have another meeting some other time, but in the meanwhile, let's run this underground." Pearl nodded.

Four and Callie smirked, Pearl smirked.

"Okay Team Chaos, let's go!"


End file.
